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COPYRIGHT DEPOSITi 



AN INTRODUCTION TO 
BIBLE STUDY 

Specially adapted for the Members of Adult Bible 
Classes, and for all Bible Students 

BY 

Professor AMOS R. WELLS, A.M., 

Editorial Secretary of the United Society of Christian Endeavor 



LIST OF TOPICS 



Page 

The Bible Winning the World 3 
How the Bible Came Down to 

Us 4 

The Bible in Course 7 

Bible Study Book by Book 8 

Studying the Bible by Topics 9 
Bible Marking 10 

Committing the Bible to Memory 12 
The Literary Study of the Bible 14 
How the Bible May Influence 

Your Heart Life 15 



Page 
16 



Helps for Bible Study 

How to Study the Historical 

Books of the Old Testament 17 
How to Study the Poetical 

Books of the Old Testament 21 
How to Study the Prophetical 

Books of the Old Testament 24 
How to Study the Gospels 29 
How to Study the Acts 31 

How to Study the Epistles 32 
How to Study the Revelation 36 



PHILADELPHIA 

THE PRESBYTERIAN BOARD OF PUBLICATION 

AND SABBATH SCHOOL WORK 

1909 






Copyright, 1909, by 
AMOS R. WELLS 



249978 



AN INTRODUCTION TO BIBLE STUDY 



BY PROFESSOR AMOS R. WELLS 



The Bible Winning the World 

It hardly need be said that all 
missionaries are Bible-lovers, and 
that the Book is intimately associ- 
ated with their personal histories. 
The very beginning of modern 
missions was Carey's unfolding of 
Isa. 54 : 2, 3. When Judson was 
only three years old he surprised his 
father one day by reading to him a 
chapter of the Bible. Walter Low- 
rie, in the midst of the attack by 
Chinese pirates, was sitting calmly 
reading his Bible when they threw 
him into the sea. 

When Allen Gardiner and his he- 
roic comrades were found, starved to 
death on the shore of Tierra del 
Fuego, upon a rock was seen painted 
Ps. 62 :5-8: "My soul, wait thou 
only upon God ; for my expectation is 
from him." When Louis Dahne, la- 
boring alone among the Surinam 
Indians, was bitten by a huge snake, 
fearing that the Indians would be 
charged with his death, he wrote 
quickly with a piece of chalk, "A 
snake has killed me." But at once 
Mark 16:18 came to his mind; he 
flung the snake away, and took no 
harm. 

When Moffat asked to have the 
Hottentot servants brought in to fam- 
ily prayers his Boer host roared: 
" Hottentots! I'll call my dogs, and 
you may preach to them!" The mis- 
sionary at once began to read and 
explain the story of the Syro-Phoeni- 
cian woman, with her saying, " Even 
the dogs eat of the crumbs which 



fall from their master's table." 
" Hold! " cried the Boer; " you shall 
have your Hottentots ! " Such stories 
might be multiplied indefinitely con- 
cerning missionaries. 

Nowhere better than in missionary 
history can the power of the Book 
be seen. A learned pundit in India 
began to read the Sanskrit New Testa- 
ment, when the genealogy of Christ 
led him to look into the Old Testa- 
ment. There, before any missionary 
had instructed him, he recognized 
the thread of Messianic prophecy, 
and from that recognition became a 
Christian minister. 

A young Moslem in India, studying 
to be a missionary, read the New 
Testament in order to become able to 
vanquish the Christians in argument, 
and became a Christian missionary 
instead of a Moslem one. It was his 
habit to challenge his Moslem and 
Hindu opponents to take a series of 
topics each of which was to be ex- 
pounded for fifteen minutes by him 
and them out of their respective 
scriptures; but their Bibles had so 
little to say on most of the great 
themes that he always confounded 
them. 

A Mohammedan in Turkey would 
read the Bible till he foamed at the 
mouth in rage and flung the book 
from him; but after a few weeks he 
would be drawn to it again. This 
continued for ten years, till finally he 
gave it up and became a Christian. 
A young Chinese scholar, who had 
never even heard of the Bible, helped 
his sister read a copy of the Gospels 



AN INTRODUCTION TO BIBLE STUDY 



which she had bought, and was 
thereby converted. 

A missionary in China, importuned 
to go to a distant village, went un- 
willingly, thinking himself merely 
called in to settle some dispute; but 
he found that three years before one 
of the villagers had bought a Bible, 
and from that book alone a church 
had been established consisting of 
some of the most influential men. 

Jiwan Das was a robber and thug 
of India. One day he waylaid a na- 
tive preacher, taking from him his 
clothes and some copies of the Bible. 
The latter he gave to his son, who 
read from them to his father. The 
boy stumbled on Num. 32:23: "Be 
sure your sin will find you out." 
The robber trembled, began to read 
for himself, and at last became an 
exemplary Christian. 

It was a little Dutch Testament, 
found floating on the water of Naga- 
saki harbor in Japan, which gave 
Verbeck his first Bible class. When 
the missionaries saw that they must 
leave Madagascar, they hastened their 
translation of the Bible, and some of 
the native Christians walked sixty or 
a hundred miles to get copies. During 
the period of fierce persecution these 
Bibles were divided for safety among 
many owners ; they were also buried, 
and dug up for secret reading. When 
the missionaries returned, after a 
quarter of a century, they found 
nearly four times as many Christians 
as they had left. 

In every land the great mission- 
aries, such as Carey, Martyn, Mor- 
rison, Moffat, Goodeli, Schauffler, 
have been great Bible translators. 
Often, especially in Roman Catholic 
countries, missionary work has be- 
gun solely with the heroic labors of 
the colporteur. 

Now it is the great Bible societies 
that are largely instrumental in the 



translation and circulation of the 
Scriptures among the immigrants of 
our own country and on foreign fields. 
In 1908 the American Bible Society 
sold or gave away 1,895,941 copies 
of the Bible, the New Testament, and 
portions thereof. The figures of the 
British and Foreign Bible Society were 
5,688,381, and those of the Scottish 
National Bible Society were 1,637,- 
889. Twenty-three smaller Bible so- 
cieties in Europe distributed 1,205,183 
copies, making a total for that one 
year of 10,427,394 copies. Surely 
the Bible is the most popular book in 
the world! 

The Bible has been translated into 
500 of the chief languages and dia- 
lects of the world. The great mis- 
sionary printing houses on foreign 
fields and the Bible society colporteurs 
send and carry the leaves of healing 
to all corners of the globe. Even 
where the readers of Scripture do not 
at once become Christians, a new 
uniform system of ethics is estab- 
lished, replacing the old barbaric cus- 
toms. This world-wide circulation of 
the Bible is rapidly laying the foun- 
dation, for a world-wide Christian 
civiUzation. 



How the Bible Came Down 
to Us 

The Old Testament was written in 
Hebrew, with ink, on rolls of parch- 
ment. The original manuscripts, 
none of which have been preserved, 
were written in a sort of script and 
not in the modem square characters ; 
and only the consonants were writ- 
ten. The vowels, invented to pre- 
serve the traditional pronunciation, 
were inserted by minute characters 
above, within, and below the conso- 
nants. This improvement was made 
during the seventh or eighth century 



HOW THE BIBLE CAME DOWN TO US 



after Christ by scribes called Masso- 
retes (" students of the text "). 
There was no punctuation or spacing 
between the words, and some of the 
letters were much aUke. Thus there 
were many possibiUties of error as the 
Bible was copied by scribe after 
scribe; but the Jews were endlessly 
careful of the sacred text, and we 
have it in a wonderfully correct 
form. 

The Jews buried or otherwise de- 
stroyed worn-out manuscripts of the 
Bible, so that very few old copies are 
left. The most ancient manuscripts 
of the Hebrew Bible known are the 
St. Petersburg manuscript of the 
prophets, dated 916 A.D., and a Brit- 
ish Museum copy of the Pentateuch 
that may be a little earUer. The old- 
est copy of the entire Hebrew Bible 
is dated loio A.D. 

We are aided in learning what was 
the original Hebrew text by the Sa- 
maritan Pentateuch, an independent 
text that comes down from the days 
of Manasseh, 698 B.C. ; by the Jewish 
Targums, or interpretations of the 
original Hebrew composed at a time 
when Hebrew had ceased to be spoken 
by the Jews, Aramaic taking its 
place; and by various translations of 
the Old Testament into other lan- 
guages. 

The oldest of these versions is the 
Greek translation, which was the 
Bible used in New Testament times. 
It is called the Septuagint (Greek 
for " seventy") from the tradition 
that seventy (or seventy-two) scholars 
went into separate cells and came 
out with seventy exactly similar trans- 
lations! This Greek Old Testament 
was made for the Greek-speaking 
Jews of Egypt, and was begun at 
Alexandria under Ptolemy Phila- 
delphus, 285-247 B.C. Other valu- 
able ancient versions are the Syriac 
of the first or second century after 



Christ, and Jerome's Latin translation 
(the Vulgate), made about 400 A.D. 

The original manuscripts of the 
New Testament have probably long 
ago fallen to dust, for they were writ- 
ten on the poor paper called papyrus, 
made of the pith of the papyrus reed, 
the Egyptian bulrush. Early copies 
were made on vellum (calfskin) or 
parchment (sheepskin or goatskin). 
Cheap slave labor multiplied these 
copies, and the monks of the middle 
ages made copies with the most pious 
care. The first printed book was a 
Latin Bible, produced by Gutenberg 
in 1456. 

The New Testament was written in 
Greek. The extant manuscripts are 
far older than those of the Old Testa- 
ment, and also more numerous. The 
manuscripts later than about the be- 
ginning of the tenth century are cur- 
sives (Latin curro, to run), being 
written in a rapid, running hand then 
adopted by the monks. The more 
ancient and more valuable manu- 
scripts are called uncials, from the 
Latin uncia., an inch, because they 
are written in capital letters that are 
sometimes an inch long. The words 
were written with no spaces between, 
and there were no verse or chapter 
divisions. 

The most ancient and valuable 
uncials are three. The Aleph or 
Sinaitic manuscript was discovered 
by Tischendorf in the convent of St. 
Catharine on Mount Sinai, the monks 
being about to kindle fires with it. 
It is the only complete uncial manu- 
script of the New Testament, and is 
preserved in St. Petersburg. It was 
written about 340 A.D. The A or 
Alexandrine manuscript came from 
Egypt and is preserved in the British 
Museum. It was written before the 
middle of the fifth century. The B 
or Vatican manuscript is preserved 
carefully by the CathoUc authorities 



AN INTRODUCTION TO BIBLE STUDY 



at Rome, and is of the same great age 
as the Sinaitic manuscript. 

Very recently there have been 
found in Egypt some scraps of papy- 
rus containing " logia," or sayings of 
Jesus, and these fragments are the 
most ancient Christian manuscripts 
we possess, being written 140 A.D. 
or even earlier. There was also dis- 
covered recently " The Teaching of 
the Twelve Apostles," a summary of 
Christian doctrine written about 75 
A.D., the manuscript being made in 
1056 A.D.. 

Of much value in determining the 
exact text of the New Testament are 
the oldest translations from the 
Greek, made into old Latin in the 
second century, into later Latin by 
Jerome in the fourth century (the 
Vulgate or " common " version still 
used by the Roman Catholics), into 
Syrian about 200 A.D., into Ethiopic 
in the fourth century (for use in 
Abyssinia), into Coptic (for Egypt), 
Gothic, Arabic, Persian. 

Still other evidence for the ancient 
text as well as conclusive proof of the 
authenticity of the New Testament is 
found in the frequent quotations from 
the New Testament writers made by 
the Christian authors of early times, 
such as Polycarp (a disciple of St. 
John), Justin Martyr (bom about 
100 A.D.), Clement (bom about 160 
A.D.), and Irenaeus (a disciple of 
Polycarp, 120-202 A.D.). 

The canon of the Old Testament, or 
list of books having a right there, 
was fixed in its essentials by Ezra 
and his associates. The canon of the 
New Testament was authoritatively 
settled by the Council of Carthage, 
397 A.D. Ancient Hebrew and 
Greek writings connected with the 
Bible in theme but evidently spurious 
and uninspired are placed in the 
Apocrypha. 

If we except the poetical version of 



Caedmon and the prose translation of 
a portion of the Bible made by Bede, 
John Wyclif is the first translator of 
the Bible into English. His transla- 
tion was made from Jerome's Latin 
translation and so was inaccurate, 
but it was a very noble work of a very 
heroic man. It was finished by the 
middle of 1382, and was of course 
reproduced in manuscripts, printing 
not having been invented. 

WilUam Tyndale's New Testament 
(1525) and Pentateuch (1530) were 
the first printed EngUsh translations. 
This noble scholar, a martyr to the 
cause of Bible translation, made use 
of the original Hebrew and Greek, 
and his work Ues at the bottom of 
our present English Bible. The first 
complete English Bible was the trans- 
lation made by Miles Coverdale, one 
of Tyndale's friends, and pubUshed in 
1535- On the request of Thomas 
Cromwell, the famous officer of Henry 
VIIL, Coverdale published in 1539 
" the Great Bible," so called because 
it was a large folio. The version of 
the Psalms in this translation is still 
used in the English Prayer Book. 

A very valuable translation, the 
Genevan Bible, was published in 1560 
by the Puritan exiles in Geneva, 
Switzerland. Verse divisions were 
used in this Bible. This Bible be- 
came so popular that the English 
Church revised the Great Bible, the 
result being " the Bishops' Bible " ; 
and the confusing simultaneous use 
of all three versions caused the prep- 
aration, under James I., of the Au- 
thorized Version or King James 
Bible of 161 1. This great work, the 
fountain head of our modem civih- 
zation, was accomplished by forty- 
seven translators, each of whom took 
a portion of the Bible, the whole being 
completed in two and three-fourths 
years. In the meantime, in 1610, 
the Roman Catholic translation of 



THE BIBLE IN COURSE 



Jerome's Latin translation was com- 
pleted. It is still in use, and is called 
the Douai Bible, from the place in 
Flanders where it was finished. 

For more than two and a half cen- 
turies the King James Bible was the 
supreme translation; but during that 
long time the most ancient manu- 
scripts, the uncials, were discovered, 
many errors were found in the 
King James version, and many 
changes took place in the English 
language itself, all of which rendered 
a new translation necessary. The 
Church of England took the lead, 
forming two companies of the ablest 
scholars of all denominations, one 
for the Old Testament and one for the 
New, with corresponding American 
companies working in close coop- 
eration. These labored with self- 
denying zeal for ten and a half years, 
and published in 1881 the Revised 
New Testament, and, in four years 
more, the Revised Old Testament. 
This is the English or Victorian Re- 
vision. 

The Am.erican revisers waited till 
1 90 1 according to agreement, and 
then published the American Stand- 
ard (the version given in this vol- 
ume), in which they incorporated 
their own preferences that had not 
been adopted in the Victorian Revi- 
sion, together with many other im- 
provements upon that version. The 
American Standard is certainly the 
most accurate of all the Bible transla- 
tions, and brings out most faithfully 
in English the words and thoughts of 
the inspired originals. This is what 
every Bible reader should desire. 



The Bible in Course 

When a surveyor has a large piece 
of ground to survey, especially if it 
is irregular and wooded, he makes 



what he calls a reconnoissance : he 
travels over the boundaries with a 
pocket compass, noting the direc- 
tions and counting his steps. Roughly 
plotting the results, he has on paper 
his preliminary sketch of the finished 
survey. 

Reading the Bible straight through 
is our reconnoissance of the sacred 
volume. There is much we shall not 
understand, but those parts we shall 
hurry over for the present; we shall 
get enough that we do understand. 
We shall realize the massiveness and 
splendor of the Book. We shall get 
a rough idea of the relation of its 
parts. We shall form some concep- 
tion of its contents, and probably get 
an introduction to many books and 
portions of books. I well remember 
how my own first reading of the Bible 
straight through introduced me to 
Job, Deuteronomy, Ezekiel, and Jere- 
miah, which have since been favorite 
books. Every Christian should make 
this Bible reconnoissance at least once. 

From fifteen minutes to half an 
hour a day for a year will accomplish 
this wise purpose. You will be far 
more likely to stick to your design if 
you have a regular time and place for 
the reading. Three or four chapters 
a day will suffice on the average, 
though you should apportion to each 
day enough pages to serve as its full 
share. Of course some parts, such 
as the genealogical tables in Numbers, 
may be read very rapidly for your 
present purpose. If any one cares 
for a detailed guide, it may be found 
in my little book, " A Bible Year," 
which contains introductions to the 
different books, assignments of chap- 
ters for each day, an appropriate 
theme for each day's meditation, and 
suggestions for each day's further 
study, if the reader has the time. 

The version used should by all 
means be the American Standard; 



AN INTRODUCTION TO BIBLE STUDY 



you will not want to spend so much 
time on anything but the best trans- 
lation. 

It will give zest to your reading if, 
in addition to the general purpose of 
reconnoissance, you take a specific 
object, as, to look for revelations of 
the character of God, or for helps in 
temptation or inspiration for courage. 
Mark all you find that bears on this 
topic. Another time you will wish 
to read the Bible straight through, 
using a different specific object and 
a different color for your markings. 

Each day you should review what 
you have read, getting a clear idea of 
its general contents or thought. Do 
this also the second day. Try for 
permanent gains. 

Look at the large purpose of each 
book. You cannot stay for lesser 
points, but you can make sure of that. 

It will be an inspiration if you can 
get others to read the Bible straight 
through at the same time you do. 
Talking over the readings will be a 
spur to you all. If those that are 
doing it are members of your Sunday- 
school class, you will often get points 
bearing directly and helpfully on the 
current lessons. 

And especially, as you read the 
Bible straight through, note what 
books you want to study more thor- 
oughly, and write a list of them in the 
back of the book. That is your Bible 
prospectus for coming years. 



Bible Study Book by Book 

Christians are well aware that the 
Bible is, in a sense, not one book but 
an entire Uterature, the literature of 
the Hebrew people. In the highest 
sense, however, it is a single book, 
one-purposed and harmonious in all 
its parts. This is what makes He- 
brew Uterature unique among all the 



literatures of the world, and this con- 
stitutes one of the strongest argu- 
ments for its supernatural origin. 

In spite of these considerations, the 
study of the Bible book by book is one 
of the most valuable methods of 
Bible study. To become a speciahst 
in any one book of the Bible, such as 
Ephesians, Amos, Isaiah, Genesis, 
John, is a noble ambition. There is 
enough in any book of the Bible to 
occupy the Ufe of a great scholar, and 
how much more of us little scholars ! 

Book-by-book study of the Bible 
should not follow the order of the 
Bible books, but the order of your 
own interest. Begin with the book 
to which you are most attracted, 
whatever that may be, and reach out 
from it to similar or related books. 
If, for example, you are led to study 
the Psahns first, after obtaining a 
fair knowledge of that great book 
you will want to gain fresh Ught upon 
it by a study of the other poetical 
books of the Bible, Job, Proverbs, 
Lamentations, Solomon's Song, and 
the poems included in other books. 
For the related history you will be 
led to Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles. 
No Bible book stands alone. 

Thus in the Sunday-school work 
you will read all the Bible books that 
are closely related to the special book 
in which the lessons lie. If you are 
studying the Acts, you will read the 
Epistles. If you are studying Mat- 
thew, you will bring the other Gospels 
alongside. And you will introduce in 
the class discussions the points you 
obtain from this wider reading. 

In studying a single book of the 
Bible it is best to obtain, in addition 
to whatever general commentaries 
you may possess, some special mono- 
graph upon the book. Helpful mon- 
ographs upon most of the Bible books 
are to be found in EngUsh, such as 
I Perowne and Spurgeon and Barton 
8 



STUDYING THE BIBLE BY TOPICS 



on the Psalms, Peloubet and Genung 
on Job, Mitchell on Amos, Deems on 
James, MilUgan on Revelation, Swete 
on Mark, Genung on Ecclesiastes, 
and so on almost without end. Many 
of the great commentaries assign sep- 
arate books to speciaUsts, such as 
George Adam Smith's famous work 
on the minor prophets in " The Ex- 
positor's Bible." These are unequal, 
and the student will need to discrim- 
inate among them, using what is 
best in each series. 

The book you are studying should 
first be read with care, but as rapidly 
as may be, without having recourse 
to any commentary. Mark with 
question marks what you do not un- 
derstand, and then you will have an 
appetite for the information given by 
the commentary, and will be far more 
likely to remember it. This prelim- 
inary reading may well be repeated 
more than once before you turn to 
the commentary. It is well also to 
make your own outline and analysis 
of the book before you read the anal- 
ysis of the commentary. Compare 
yours with it, and make corrections 
and improvements from it. Take 
pains to master the introduction to 
the book given in the commentary 
before passing to the chapter and 
verse comments. 

Let your study of a Bible book 
ever have in view a double purpose: 
to discover what the book meant to 
the times for which it was immediate- 
ly written, and what it means for the 
times in which you hve. Ask at each 
turn of the thought: " How did this 
influence the lives of the first readers 
or hearers? How should this in- 
fluence my Ufe? " 

Review the book, over and over, 
till you feel that it has become a per- 
manent addition to your mind. Make 
your knowledge so substantial that it 
will serve as a firm nucleus about 



which later accretions of knowledge 
may gather. When such a nucleus 
is once formed, you will be surprised 
to see how many additions will be 
made to it. 



Studying the Bible by Topics 

Our use of the Bible is mainly a 
topical use. For instance, we want 
to know not so much what James 
says about the answers to prayer as 
the Bible teaching on that great 
theme. No one can wisely, or with 
satisfaction to himself, stop short of 
the entire Bible view on any impor- 
tant question. Moreover, it is a pro- 
found satisfaction to make sure that 
one has mastered what the Bible has 
to say on any subject; one has the 
feeling of definite and worthy accom- 
plishment. 

It is a fine thing to become a Bible 
specialist, to learn all one can, and 
far more than most others know, 
about any one phase of the Bible and 
its teachings. We may take up a 
vast theme, such as prophecy, or a 
small matter, such as the Jewish 
months, according to our abihty and 
tastes; but to be a specialist in any- 
thing relating to the Bible is well 
worth while. We shall need to learn 
all that the Bible has to say on the 
subject, and add whatever we can 
get outside. 

In the section on Bible marking I 
have given a convenient and fairly 
full Ust of topics for this topical study 
of the Bible. Begin with the. subject 
in which you take a natural and un- 
forced interest, whether it is in that 
Ust or not, and then branch out from 
that into related themes as your in- 
terest leads you. You will find the 
pathway endless, and as delightful as 
it is long. 

You will be wise if you let your 
Sunday-school lessons lead you out 



AN INTRODUCTION TO BIBLE STUDY 



into topical study of the Bible. For 
example, you have in the school the 
story of Gideon ; make a topical study 
of the inspiring theme, the Bible vic- 
tories of few over many. You will 
group together the exploits of Jona- 
than, Samson, Shamgar, David, and 
many other heroes, and you will add 
such verses as i Sam 14:6 and Josh. 
23:10, which you will commit to 
memory. Before you are through 
you will have made many positive 
gains, for illustration and personal 
inspiration. 

At another time your topical study 
may well seek to throw Ught on an 
entire series of lessons. For example, 
if the school is with Paul on his 
travels, you may make a topical study 
of Pauline geography, seeing how 
much you can learn about Antioch, 
and Ephesus, and Athens, and Rome, 
in connection with the Bible. 

Topical study is especially valuable 
when you combine biographical and 
historical illustrations with those that 
are more abstract. If, for instance, 
you become interested in learning 
what the Bible has to say on the re- 
lation of parents and children, do not 
stop with positive precepts, such as 
those found so abundantly in Prov- 
erbs, but add the even greater illumi- 
nation of actual examples, such as 
Christ, Timothy, Samuel, Eli, Ruth, 
Absalom, Isaac, Joseph, Jephthah's 
daughter. 

As your interest in this topical 
study grows, you will become keen 
to increase your number of passages 
bearing on a subject, and you will be 
glad to enlist others in the pursuit 
with you. Thus topical study may 
be taken up helpfully by a whole class 
in cooperation. It is a good plan to 
let the topical study of one great 
theme, such as the atonement, run 
as an undercurrent through an entire 
quarter of the year, or even longer. 



For this work a complete concord- 
ance is indispensable (Walker's is the 
best for ordinary use). A Bible in- 
dex, found in teachers' Bibles, is 
helpful. Helpful also are the Bible 
text-books such as those by Inglis and 
Torrey. You will soon learn, in your 
use of the concordance, to look up 
cognate words; if, for example, you 
want texts concerning the Bible, you 
will look under " law," " testimony," 
" Scriptures," etc. No topical study 
is complete without the instructive 
search through the Bible book by 
book. Some books you can reject at 
once from your consideration as cer- 
tain to contain nothing bearing on 
the point; others will at once bring 
to mind appropriate passages; still 
others must be examined very closely. 

It is in this broad view of the Bible 
that the value of topical study con- 
sists. You gain a knowledge of the 
relation of part to part, and you get 
away from the consideration of iso- 
lated texts. You obtain that priceless 
possession, a whole Bible. 



Bible Marking 

A marked Bible is twice a Bible. 
The process has made the Bible famil- 
iar to its owner, and accessible. With 
no outside help, he can trace a doc- 
trine through its pages, and note the 
progress of thought and action from 
age to age and book to book. More- 
over, Bible marking binds your own 
experience into the blessed volume, 
filling its blank spaces with a record 
of your own thought and life; you 
have put yourself into the Scriptures 
and got the Scriptures into yourself. 

Bible marking gives new zest to the 
reading and study of the Bible be- 
cause of the ease and definiteness 
with which so much of your gains is 
preserved. It is a task without diffi- 



10 



BIBLE MARKING 



culty, done a little at a time, but the 
aggregation of accomplishment is 
enormous in the course of years. 

When the present writer was a 
Sunday-school librarian a lady came 
to him with the request: " Won't you 
please, when you read one of the 
library books, mark the passages that 
interest you most? Marked books 
are so much more interesting to me." 
Your own Bible, if you mark it 
thoughtfully, will become far more 
interesting and precious to you and 
to those that may receive the book 
after you. 

A very simple plan is the best for 
Bible marking. It will mean much 
to you if, as you read the Bible, you 
underscore only the verses that are 
the most helpful, or merely draw a 
vertical line against them in the mar- 
gin. My own method is only a little 
more complex than that, and I have 
found it entirely adequate. 

In my personal Bible I have taken 
the fifty-two topics on which the 
Scriptures have the most to say, and 
designated each with a symbol con- 
sisting of one or two natural and 
readily remembered letters, thus: 



A = Anger. 

B = Bible. 

Cf = Confession. 

Ch = Church. 

Cm = Communion. 

Cn = Conscience. 

Cr = Courage. 

Ct = Contentment. 

Cv =Covetousness. 

Cy = Charity. 

D = Death. 

F = Faith. 

Fg = Forgiveness. 

G =God. 

H = Heaven. 

HI = Holiness. 

Hp =Hope. 

HS =Holy Spirit. 



Hu = Humility. 
I = Immortality. 
J = Judgment. 

Jy = Joy. 

L =Love. 
La = Labor. 
M = Missions. 
O = Obedience. 
P = Prayer. 
Pa = Patience. 
Pc = Peace. 
Pe = Perseverance. 
Pr = Purity. 
Pt = Patriotism. 
Pv = Providence. 
R = Repentance. 
S = Salvation. 
Sb = Sabbath. 



Sd = Self-denial. 

SI = Selfishness. 

Sn =Sin. 

So = Sorrow. 

Sp = Speech. 

Sr = Service. 

T = Thanksgiving. 

Tm = Temperance. 

Tr = Truth. 

Tt = Temptation. 



^ (an inverted V) 
= Conversion. 

W = Worship. 

Wr =WorldUness. 

Ws = Wisdom. 

Wt = Watchful- 
ness. 

X (the first letter 
of His Greek 
name) = Christ. 



This list is placed in the back of the 
book, but of course it is soon com- 
mitted to memory. In my own use 
of the method I subdivide each topic 
into seven numbered subtopics: thus 
" atonement " is X 7 and " country " 
is Pt I. The entire system, with a 
collection of texts for each topic and 
subtopic, is fully set forth in my httle 
book, " The Bible Marksman." Ev- 
ery Bible user, however, will doubt- 
less prefer to make his own set of 
s3anbols according to his own needs 
and likings. 

All that is essential is, while reading 
the Bible, to mark the appropriate 
symbol in the outer margin against 
each verse that especially strikes your 
attention. I have a way of linking 
the verses on a particular topic by 
writing below each symbol, in very 
fine figures, the page where the next 
verse on that topic is to be found 
(having numbered all the pages con- 
secutively). This is useful for study 
and for giving Bible readings, but is 
not a necessary addition to the plan. 

This method, or any better method 
that may be discovered, will be set 
forth in the adult class, and occa- 
sional exercises in Bible marking 
may be given in the class. The 
theme chosen should be intimately 
related to the lesson, and the exercise 
may be led by the teacher or by 
some pupil that has made special 
preparation. 

The students, as they become en- 



11 



AN INTRODUCTION TO BIBLE STUDY 



thusiastic, will wish to enlarge their 
collections of texts by copying from 
other collections, or by the use of 
such collections as are given in my 
" Bible Marksman," IngUs's admir- 
able "Bible Text Cyclopedia," and 
similar books. 

This is Bible marking by topics. 
The student will soon come to sup- 
plement it with a system of cross ref- 
erences for the purpose of historical 
comparison. Opposite Acts 8:40, for 
instance, you will place V Acts 21:8" 
— the next reference to Philip in the 
New Testament. Such references, to 
be sure, are given in reference Bibles, 
but in so great numbers as to be con- 
fusing. Each one that you thus write 
out will have real meaning to you. 

Gradually you will enlarge your 
Bible marking until your Bible has 
become the repository of much of the 
results of your study. Dates will be 
inserted, the modem equivalents of 
weights and measures, condensed 
facts and explanations, comments 
and illustrations. These accumula- 
tions cannot be predicted or formu- 
lated for you. Be keen to incor- 
porate in your Bible whatever will 
shed light upon the sacred pages, and 
you will be amazed at the value of 
what you will thus store up. 

These Bible markings will be use- 
ful in your private reading and study, 
in your work of Bible memorizing, 
and in the class discussions. You 
will be able to illustrate Scripture 
with Scripture, making the Bible its 
own best interpreter. 

Whenever you can, use ink for 
your Bible marking, or at least an 
ink pencil. Colored pencils are use- 
ful, for they enable you to distinguish 
with readily seen colors the great 
topics in which you are most inter- 
ested. 

Finally, mark nothing merely for 
the sake of Bible marking, but only 



as the passage means something to 
you in your heart life, or as you have 
a definite use for it in the future. 
Let nothing cumber these precious 
Bible margins, but pack them full of 
significance. 



Committing the Bible to 
Memory 

The true soldier will carry his 
weapon always by his side, to guard 
against a sudden attack of the enemy. 
The wise physician will have his med- 
icine bag with him at all times, ready 
for an instant's call upon his skill. 
The traveller in an unknown region 
will take food with him on his jour- 
ney, and will not reckon on meeting 
an inn always when he is hungry. 

The Bible is the Christian's weapon 
and medicine and food, but too few 
Christians carry it with them, stored 
up in their memories. It is on their 
study table, but they cannot get at it 
in time of sudden trial, in chance 
conversations with unbeUevers, dur- 
ing a long, distressful night. Few of 
us have much of the Bible in the place 
where it is most needed, namely, in 
our heads and our hearts. The Bible 
by heart — that is a suggestive syno- 
nym for committing to memory. 

In former years there was far more 
committing of the Bible to memory 
than there is now. Books and papers 
have so multiplied, copies of the 
Bible are so readily at hand, that we 
have the impression that we can have 
the Book always with us without 
storing it away in our minds ; but we 
cannot. 

Why may not the adult Sunday- 
school classes of the land take the 
lead in restoring this good old custom 
of committing the Bible to memory? 
If the parents get the habit they will 
perceive its inunense advantages, and 



13 



COMMITTING THE BIBLE TO MEMORY 



will soon instruct their children in it. 
Why not set apart a regular time in 
each recitation period for the repeat- 
ing of Bible verses and longer pas- 
sages? Those portions should be 
taken that are appropriate to the 
lesson, and in no way could we bet- 
ter illustrate and enforce the lesson 
truths. The exercise may be abun- 
dantly varied, as I shall show. The 
members of the class will like it from 
the start, and as their memories grow 
in power they will hke it more and 
more. 

If you take up this work, it will be 
best to decide at the beginning of the 
quarter upon a course of memory 
passages for the entire three months. 
You may appoint a memory commit- 
tee, which you may prefer to dignify 
by the title, " Mnemosyne Commit- 
tee." This committee will not only 
select the Bible passages to be learned 
by heart and give a list of references 
and dates to each member of the 
class, but it may conduct the memory 
exercise in connection with each 
recitation, if the teacher wishes this 
aid. 

If you do not care to work in this 
elaborate way, simply establish the 
custom of calling for Bible comments 
on the lesson at the close of each 
recitation. Let it be understood that 
no verses are to be read, but all 
are to be repeated from memory. 
Urge the students always to learn 
with each verse the chapter and verse 
numbers, and repeat them with the 
verse. The many advantages of this 
custom will soon be apparent, not 
the least of which is the ease with 
which those that will become en- 
thusiastic in the method can add to 
their repertoire by noting the verses 
given by their comrades. In addi- 
tion, this custom of giving the chap- 
ter and verse allows one always to 
look up readily the context of the 



text, which is often as illuminating as 
the text itself. 

Another useful method is to confine 
the memory passages to the Bible 
book you are studying, having the 
members of the class repeat at each 
recitation the, most helpful verses 
they find as they go on in the study 
of the book. 

Still another admirable plan is to 
memorize Bible verses according to 
certain few topics, carefully selected 
as the lessons may suggest them. 
These topics should be those of the 
greatest practical value. For several 
weeks you may memorize verses that 
teach the nearness of God, His omni- 
presence. At other times you may 
store your memory with Bible words 
helpful in time of temptation, or of 
sorrow, or of sickness, or of loss or 
failure. Again, you may learn the 
chief Bible passages teaching im- 
mortaUty, or the inspiration of the 
Bible, or the divinity of Christ — such 
passages as you can use in talking 
with doubters. 

It is very helpful to form chains 
of verses on a single topic, associating 
the verses together by some natural 
or artificial link. The verses may be 
committed to memory in the order of 
the books from which they are taken. 
Or, they may be Unked together in 
alphabetical order, arranging them so 
that the first significant words of the 
verses shall begin with the successive 
letters of the alphabet. Another way 
of linking the versei alphabetically is 
by their subjects, such as a series 
of verses answering to the themes: 
" Prayer ans^wered, prayer blessed, 
prayer consta.nt, prayer dented, prayer 
ecstatic, prayer faithful/ ' etc. Many 
other methods will be devised by the 
ingenious of the class, and they 
should be encouraged to communicate 
their inventions to their comrades. 

A contest in repeating Bible verses 



13 



AN INTRODUCTION TO BIBLE STUDY 



would make an interesting exercise 
at a class social. Sides should be 
chosen, an umpire should be ap- 
pointed, and the effort will be to see 
which side can repeat the largest 
niunber of verses correctly. Correct 
quotation of the Bibte is rare, and 
pains should be taken in all this work 
to get absolute accuracy. 

In committing to memory do not 
use the King James version, but the 
American Standard revision. What 
you want in your mind is the real 
Bible, is it not? and you do not want 
to perpetuate errors of translation. 

If you want success in this Bible 
memorizing, it is positively necessary 
for you to review frequently. With- 
out constant review all your gains 
will sUp away from you. 

The best review is use. Introduce 
the blessed passages into your con- 
versation and your talks in the prayer 
meetings. Make full use of them in 
the Sunday-school discussions. Med- 
itate upon them in the night watches. 

You will find, as you continue in 
this practice of Bible memorizing, 
that it adds a new incentive to the 
reading of the Scriptures. You will 
be eager to increase your accumula- 
tions of sacred lore, and you will re- 
joice in ever new additions of knowl- 
edge and wisdom and comfort. 



The Literary Study of the 
J^ible 

The Holy Spirit, inspiring the 
writers of the Bible, made use of ne- 
cessity of Uterary forms, and it is a 
glorious study to see how all the 
modes of human expression are in- 
corporated in the Book of books. 
The Bible is the literature of a race as 
well as the message of God to all the 
world. The Bible as literature is best 



studied with the aid of Professor 
Moulton's " The Literary Study of 
the Bible." 

You will find the Bible full of 
poems, written not in rhyme but in 
balanced clauses arranged in coup- 
lets (see Job ahnost anywhere), trip- 
lets (Lam. I, 2), quatrains (Ps. 121), 
and sometimes in longer groups 
(Prov. 30: 4)- You will often find 
the refrain introduced (Ps. 107, 136), 
and you will often find the long, 
swaying, carefully balanced stanzas 
called strophes, as in a Greek chorus 
(see Ps. 107). The poems range 
from simple songs, like " The Song 
of the Sword" (Gen. 4: 23, 24), to 
odes (the noble Song of Deborah, 
Judg. 5), elegies (the Lamentations 
of Jeremiah), and idyls (Solomon's 
Song). The Bible also contains epics, 
but they are prose historical passages 
treated in the grand epic fashion, 
Uke the story of Balaeim with its 
bursts of poetry. The nearest ap- 
proach to a drama in the Bible is the 
book of Job, but there are many 
dramatic passages in the prose por- 
tions of the Book. 

The Bible contains all kinds of 
prose. There are constitutional his- 
tories (Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers), 
ecclesiastical histories (Chronicles, 
Acts), and national histories (Joshua, 
Judges, Kings, etc.). Bible histories 
are models of clearness, simpUcity, 
and power. 

The world's greatest biographical 
writings are in the Bible. Preemi- 
nent among these are the Gospel fives 
of our Lord, and the Old Testament 
Uves of Abraham, Joseph, and David. 
A company of Boston authors once 
voted on the most perfect short story 
in all Uterature, and when the ballots 
were opened it was found that all had 
voted for the story of Joseph. 

The orations included in the Bible 
are of the widest scope, ranging from 



14 



HOW THE BIBLE MAY INFLUENCE YOUR HEART LIFE 



the masterpieces in Deuteronomy to 
the perfect pearls of discourse found 
in Christ's parables and the con- 
densed argument of Paul's oration 
on Mars' Hill. The greatest letters 
in the world are embodied in the 
Bible. Some are friendly personal 
letters, like Paul's to Philemon, 
some are letters to churches or entire 
peoples (Hebrews and Romans), and 
some are elaborate treatises like 
Cicero's Epistles (the Epistle to the 
Romans). 

Philosophical writings are numer- 
ous in the Bible. They range from 
Ught riddles like Samson's and prov- 
erbs or maxims and epigrams to 
longer essays like Jas. 3:1-12 or the 
essays that make up the book of Ec- 
clesiastes. 

Finally, the highest form of writing 
in the Bible, and the form most char- 
acteristic of the Hebrew literature, is 
prophecy. It is the highest form 
because it combines in a wonderful 
fashion the chief excellencies of all 
other forms of both prose and verse 
and unites them with an impassioned 
power that has always produced 
mighty effects upon the souls of men. 
You will find in the prophecies lyrics 
and odes, epistles and histories, par- 
ables and allegories, dialogues and 
dramatic monologues and orations, 
proverbs and essays and sermons. A 
student of literature could find no 
more inspiring subject than a study 
of the Old Testament prophets. 



How the Bible May Influence 
Your Heart Life 

The Bible may be studied as liter- 
ature, or as history, or as embodying 
theological doctrines, or for purposes 
of criticism and argumentation. All 
of these objects of study may con- 



tribute to the heart life or they may 
not. Certainly we must read with 
the understanding if we would read 
with the spirit, and the better we un- 
derstand the Bible the more help we 
shall gain from it; but there is no 
necessary connection between the 
literary study of the Bible and a 
strong Bible influence in your life. 

To gain this influence you must, in 
the first place, read the Bible with 
your personal problems ever before 
you. You are worried? You will 
have your favorite passages of peace 
to which to turn, or you will take up 
some strong book and explore it for 
new passages helpful in such circum- 
stances. 

In the second place, when you have 
found your bit of help — it may be 
only a single verse — stop right there 
and meditate on it. Apply it to 
yourself, asking yourself such ques- 
tions as these: " How is this an ex- 
ample for me? Do I keep this pre- 
cept? If not, why not? If so, do I 
keep it perfectly? How can I im- 
prove my observance of this com- 
mandment? Have I reaHzed this 
promise? Have I observed the con- 
ditions? " 

In the third place, you must read 
persistently. Wrestle with your Bible 
as Jacob wrestled with the angel, and 
say, " I will not let thee go, except 
thou bless me." The blessing is 
there for you, as it has been there for 
others. Read often and long, until 
you find it. And remember that one 
Bible passage made thoroughly your 
own is better than a thousand that 
you have read hastily and not ap- 
propriated. 

In the fourth place, you must read 
in the spirit of prayer. In answer to 
prayer God sends revelations of truth 
that will not come to you in any other 
way. Confidently expect those reve- 
lations in answer to your earnest 



15 



AN INTRODUCTION TO BIBLE STUDY 



petitions, and you will not be disap- 
pointed. 

Finally, you must obey what you 
read. When a truth for your life is 
flashed upon your mind, flash it into 
a deed. Make haste to obey. Pro- 
vide the conditions in which the 
promises can be fulfilled. Test God's 
Word in an obedient life. 

It is useful to set yourself some 
Bible stint for each day or series of 
days, just as Franklin set himself 
stints of moral excellence which, bit 
by bit, he would attain. To-day, for 
instance, your Bible reading points 
out patience as a needed virtue, and 
your conscience adds its confirma- 
tion. Try to-day to carry out the 
Bible injunction you have fallen 
upon, and to-morrow add other pas- 
sages to it, and so continue special- 
izing on patience until you realize it. 
Then go on to another virtue or grace. 

It is useful also occasionally to give 
yourself a sort of general Bible ex- 
amination. Ask yourself, " How do 
I stand with the Book? " To answer 
that question is more important than 
for any merchant by a trial balance 
to discover how he stands with his 
account books. Take one of the 
great testing passages, such as the 
twelfth chapter of Romans, and hold 
your life up against it, point by 
point. Be faithful, as the Book is 
faithful, and day by day you will 
make progress in the Christian life. 



Helps for Bible Study 

In all our Bible study the Bible it- 
self is the main text-book, ever to be 
kept in front of us and used as the 
chief source of information and in- 
spiration. Recent years, however, 
have enormously multiplied the num- 
ber of useful Bible helps, all of which, 
if used, will add much to the value and 



pleasure of your study, while some 
are absolutely indispensable. 

First a word about the copy of the 
Bible that you will use. You will 
really need several copies. One 
should have wide margins and be 
printed on paper that wiU take ink, 
so that you can can make marginal 
notes. You must make the best and 
most recent translations your de- 
pendence, but you will need also the 
King James version for reference. 

If you read any other language, 
often read the Bible in that tongue, 
and it will come to you with many 
fresh meanings. You will also get 
much of suggestiveness from the va- 
rious translations into modem forms 
of expression, and especially from 
Moulton's arrangements of the sacred 
text. 

Whether you read Greek or not, 
you will find Vincent's " Word Stud- 
ies in the New Testament " and " The 
Expositor's Greek Testament " ex- 
ceedingly valuable. 

Some commentary is absolutely 
necessary. Dummelow's is the best 
and most recent one-volume com- 
mentary, and is indeed admirable. 
Of commentaries in series the Cam- 
bridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 
is still unexcelled, though the New 
Century Bible is a close rival, and is 
more recent and compact. The gaps 
in the Cambridge Bible are well filled 
by the "Handbooks for Bible Classes," 
edited by Dods and Whyte. 

Of the older commentaries ElUcott's 
is perhaps the most generally useful, 
though the Speaker's and the Pulpit 
Commentary each has its excellencies. 
Parker's People's Bible, Dr. Alex- 
ander Maclaren's " Expositions of 
Holy Scripture,'* and the various 
volumes of the Expositor's Bible are 
full of meat. The International 
Critical Commentary is able, but gen- 
erally too radical. The volumes of 



16 



HOW TO STUDY THE HISTORICAL BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 



the Westminster Commentary thus 
far published are unexcelled, and it 
bids fair to be the best of all the com- 
mentaries. 

You cannot get along without a 
Bible dictionary. Of those in one 
volume, Davis's is safe, conservative, 
scholarly, and altogether useful. So 
is Peloubet's revision of Smith's. 
The "Standard Bible Dictionary," the 
one-volume dictionary by Hastings, 
and " The Illustrated Bible Diction- 
ary " by Piercy are all recent and 
valuable. There are two great Bible 
dictionaries of recent years, Hast- 
ings's in five volumes and the " En- 
cyclopaedia BibHca " in four. The 
latter is an exposition of the most 
radical criticism; the former is far 
more conservative in most of its 
articles. 

A concordance is indispensable, 
and those in the teachers' Bibles are 
necessarily so small as to be prac- 
tically useless. Walker's Concord- 
ance has superseded the old Cruden's. 
Young's Concordance is for those 
who wish to trace words in the Greek 
and Hebrew. 

You must also have a Bible atlas, 
and excellent ones are found in many 
Bibles. Place with the atlas Smith's 
invaluable *' Historical Geography of 
the Holy Land," and some of the 
many fine volumes of travel in Pal- 
estine. 

For grouping texts I find Inglis's 
" Bible-Text Cyclopedia " invaluable. 
Torrey's is also a good one. On ex- 
plorations in Bible lands Price's " The 
Monuments and the Old Testament " 
is the best. For Bible history the 
great works by Geikie, Stanley, and 
Mihnan are eloquent, instructive, and 
inspiring in the highest degree. 

There are several deUghtful series 
of biographies of Bible characters 
with which all Bible students should 
be acquainted. The best are by 



Meyer, Whyte, Taylor, and Mathe- 
son, and the series of " Men of the 
Bible " and " Temple Bible Charac- 
ters." Of lives of Paul the best are 
by Conybeare and Howson, Farrar, 
Stalker, and Baring-Gould. Add the 
noble works of Ramsay. The lead- 
ing lives of Christ are by Farrar, 
Geikie, Stalker, Watson, Matheson, 
Andrews, Beecher, Mrs. Phelps- Ward, 
and Barton. 



How to Study the Historical 
Books of the Old Testament 

The best way to study the historical 
books of the Old Testament is to study 
them in the historical order, as they 
are printed in the Bible and studied 
in our Sunday-schools. At the same 
time the narrative portions of the 
prophets should be introduced in the 
places where they belong in the his- 
tory. 

While reading any historical book 
of the Old Testament, use as a book- 
mark a long strip of cardboard di- 
vided into decades or centuries or 
even years, and covering the time of 
the book you are reading, together 
with a large margin before and after. 
Use the best chronological table you 
can find, in the Bible dictionary, 
teachers' Bible, or lesson help, and 
as you read about any event insert a 
note of it, in one or two words, at the 
proper date. Add the kings at the 
beginning and end of their reigns, and 
the other prominent men at the 
times of their first and last mention. 

A knowledge of the geography be- 
ing essential for the understanding, 
obtain or draw an unlettered map of 
the region involved in the book you 
are studying, mount it on wood, and 
insert large pins in the places made 
famous by each character of the 
narrative. These pins should bear 



17 



AX IXTRODUCTIOX TO BIBLE STUDY 



tiny streamers (made of paper) , bear- 
ing the names of the characters, or 
contractions of those names. For 
example, pins bearing an " E " for 
" Elijah " may be placed at Tishbeh, 
Gilead, Samaria, the Cherith, Zare- 
phath, Jezreel, Mount Carmel, etc. 
For battles, use red-headed pins; for 
deaths, black-headed ones. Pins of 
distinctive color or size may be used 
to designate different persons, thus 
obviating the necessity for the paper 
streamers. The pins should often be 
removed and again inserted by way of 
review. It is best not to print the 
names of places, but to name them to 
yourself as you insert each pin. 

One of the most valuable exercises, 
as you study these historical books, 
is to compare character with charac- 
ter. Thus Asa should be linked with 
Jehoshaphat, Joash, Hezekiah, and 
Josiah, and comparisons made. Thus 
Elijah and EHsha should be com- 
pared and contrasted ; Moses, Samuel, 
and David; Jeremiah and Ezekiel, 
etc. 

After the same fashion events of a 
similar nature should be linked to- 
gether in your mind. When study- 
ing about an escape, compare it with 
all other accounts of Bible escapes 
you have studied; thus also with 
Bible punishments, the instances of 
God's forgiveness, and so on. This 
exercise is valuable for your men- 
tal growth, and exceedingly useful 
for Sunday-school class illustrations. 
For both purposes, try all the time 
to increase your repertoire of such 
comparisons. 

Frequent reviews are necessary to 
the understanding and retention of 
history. Fix an outline of the events 
in your mind as you proceed, and go 
over it at odd times when away from 
the Book. 

In no kind of reading is a wise use 
of the imagination more helpful than 



in historical reading. This is espe- 
cially true of history so condensed as 
the Old Testament history is. Try 
at each turn to put yourself in the 
places of the characters, fancying 
what they felt, thought, said, and 
did that is not recorded. Do this for 
the subordinate characters as well as 
the main ones. For instance, in 
reading about the passage of the Red 
Sea, think of what Moses may have 
said to Joshua as they came up to 
the place. Imagine the feelings of 
some distracted mother. Fancy Caleb 
comforting and encouraging her. 
Fancy an Egyptian country boy peep- 
ing at the scene from behind a rock 
of the mountain yonder. 

As you read the Old Testament 
histories reaUze that you are reading 
the very best EngUsh narratives, and 
try to appreciate the magnificent Ut- 
erary style. Note the songs, ora- 
tions, letters, dialogues, and the other 
hterary forms as they are introduced. 
For this literary study nothing is bet- 
ter than the arrangements in Moul- 
ton's " Modem Reader's Bible." 

Above all, as you study these his- 
torical books seek to grasp the main 
purpose of God in regard to His peo- 
ple, and follow the unfolding of that 
purpose through the centuries. See 
how surely this end was carried out 
in spite of the evils in the nation, and 
how certainly it all moved forward 
toward the culmination in the life 
of Christ. This consideration will 
give dramatic and glorious interest 
to all your studies. 

Now an introductory word concern- 
ing each of these historical books. 
The first five books of the Bible are 
called the Pentateuch, which means 
" five books." If Joshua is added, 
the collection is called the Hexa- 
teuch, or " six books." Hebrews 
call the Pentateuch " The Book of 
the Law," or Torah. 
18 



HOW TO STUDY THE HISTORICAL BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 



GENESIS. 
Genesis (the word means " begin- 
ning ") is named in Hebrew, as are 
all the Pentateuch books, from its 
opening words, " In the beginning." 
It covers more time than all the rest 
of the Bible put together. It in- 
cludes an account of creation, won- 
derfully substantiated by geology and 
astronomy ; the introduction and fall 
of man; and the early history of the 
chosen people, the lives of Abraham, 
Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. After the 
introduction the book is divided into 
ten sections, each opening with the 
words, " These are the generations 
of." The author of the book was 
Moses; but he probably made use, 
under God's guidance, of certain 
documents previously existing. 

EXODUS. 

Exodus (the name, Uke Genesis, 
comes from the Greek translation, 
the Septuagint) means " the going 
out " (from Egypt). Genesis is per- 
sonal history; Exodus is the begin- 
ning of national history. Study, as 
you read, the establishment of the 
nation (chapters 1-18), the founding 
of its laws (chapters 19-24), the be- 
ginnings of its worship (chapters 25- 
40). The book is filled with Egyp- 
tian words and ideas and with terms 
taken from the wilderness journeys, 
all pointing to its great author, Moses. 

LEVITICUS. 
Leviticus (so called because it is a 
book of directions for the Levites) 
covers only one month in time and 
contains only three pieces of narra- 
tive. Christ quoted from this book 
His " second commandment." The 
laws here recorded relate to sacri- 
fices (chapters 1-7), the consecration 
of priests (chapters 8-10), purity 
(chapters 11-16), holiness of life 
(chapters 17-26), and gifts to God 
(chapter 27). Though written for 



another people, these laws are full of 
wisdom for us of to-day, and are full 
also of marvelous implied prophecies 
of Christ. 

NUMBERS. 

Numbers is the story of the thirty- 
eight years and three months from 
the giving of the law to the final leav- 
ing of the wilderness. Its scenes are 
at Sinai, at Kadesh, in the wilderness, 
and opposite Jericho. It is named 
from the two censuses of the people, 
at the beginning and the end of the 
wilderness wanderings. It contains 
many bits of ancient poetry, such as 
the " Song of the Well " (21 : 17, 18), 
and it is especially precious to the 
Christian because of the Messianic 
episode of the brazen serpent. 
DEUTERONOMY. 

The books of the Pentateuch are 
in chronological order. Deuteronomy 
consists of three orations by Moses 
just before his death and the entrance 
of his people into the promised land. 
The first address, chapters 1-4:40, 
reviews God's goodness to His peo- 
ple. The second address, chapters 
5-26, is a restatement of the law, for 
this second generation. This section 
gives its name to the book, Deutero- 
nomy meaning " the second law." 
The third oration, chapters 27-30, is 
a renewal of the covenant between 
God and the nation. The close of the 
book, necessarily written by another 
than Moses, relates the closing scenes 
in the life of the great lawgiver and 
statesman. Christ quoted from this 
book His " chief commandment," 
and the three sentences with which 
He frustrated Satan in His tempta- 
tion. For magnificent eloquence, 
and the loftiness and wide sweep of 
its thoughts, the book is unsurpassed 
even in the Bible. 

JOSHUA. 

The greater part of the book of 
Joshua was written by the great gen- 



19 



y. 



AN INTRODUCTION TO BIBLE STUDY 



eral whose name it bears, with addi- 
tions by later historians. The book 
consists of three parts: the conquest 
of Canaan (chapters 1-12), the set- 
tlement of Canaan (chapters 13-22), 
and Joshua's farewell address and 
death (chapters 23, 24). The book 
contains inspiring records of heroism 
and much interesting geographical 
and historical information. 

JUDGES. 

The book of Judges describes the 
three centuries following the con- 
quest of Canaan that were the " iron 
age " of the nation. The Hebrews 
were ruled by judges, often local, 
varying greatly in abiUty and influ- 
ence. The book relates the deeds of 
thirteen of these, the most prominent 
being Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, 
and Samson. The Hebrews believed 
that Samuel wrote the book ; in that 
case, certain portions incorporate 
earUer writings, and other portions 
were inserted later. The book is full 
of graphic stories, each bearing a 
warning and a lesson for all time. 

RUTH. 

The book of Ruth is the story of 
David's great-grandmother, the noble 
woman in whose Une our Lord was to 
be born. Ruth lived in the times of 
the judges, perhaps at the close of the 
judgeship of EU or the beginning of 
that of Samuel; therefore the book 
stands in the chronological order in 
the Bible. At the close the genealogy 
is brought down to the time of David, 
which may mark the time when the 
book was written. The story brings 
in several curious customs which are 
full of interest. Because so much of 
the story is at the time of harvest, 
the Jews read it at Pentecost, the 
harvest festival. 



SAMUEL. 
First and Second Samuel were but 
one book in the ancient Hebrew 
Bible. In the Septuagint they are 
called First and Second of Kingdoms, 
and our First and Second Kings are 
called Third and Fourth of Kingdoms. 
Samuel wrote a book (i Sam. 10:25), 
but this could not have been the 
book, though the first portion may 
be derived from it. Later portions 
may have been taken from the his- 
tories written by Nathan and Gad (i 
Chron. 29:29). First Samuel con- 
tains the account of Samuel's judge- 
ship and Saul's troubled reign, and 
Second Samuel contains the account 
of David's reign. 

KINGS. 

The two books of Kings were only 
one book in the original Hebrew, but 
were broken into two by the Greek 
translation, the Septuagint. They 
consist of the history of Solomon's 
reign, the story of the divided king- 
doms to the capture of Samaria (run- 
ning the two accounts parallel, giving 
first a contemporary event in Israel 
and then the story of the correspond- 
ing time in Judah), and finally the 
story of Judah till its capture and ex- 
ile. The author refers to " The Acts 
of Solomon," and often to two other 
works, the Chronicles of the Kings of 
Judah and of Israel, none of which are 
in existence. The Jews have a tra- 
dition that Jeremiah was the com- 
piler of the books, and many resem- 
blances bear out the tradition; 
but much of the description is so 
vivid as to indicate the use of ac- 
counts written at the time of the 
events. 

CHRONICLES. 

First and Second Chronicles was 
originally one book. Some think 
that the author was Ezra, because 
the closing portion of Second Chron- 



30 



HOW TO STUDY THE POETICAL BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 



icles is the same as the opening por- 
tion of the book of Ezra, and also be- 
cause of similarities in the language. 
Whoever the writer may have been, 
he enumerates no fewer than twelve 
other histories from which he gained 
his information. Chronicles begins 
with extensive genealogies, especially 
of the southern tribes, such as would 
be needed after the exile, when the 
land came to be assigned to its hered- 
itary owners and the Temple service 
to be taken up by those whose hered- 
itary duty it was. Then come the 
stories of David, Solomon, and the 
remaining kings of Judah, with very 
scanty accounts of events in the 
northern kingdom. 

EZRA. 

A portion at least of the book of 
Ezra, if not all of it, was written by 
the famous scribe and statesman 
himself. It consists of an account 
of the first return from exile under 
Zerubbabel and of the second return 
under Ezra, and is largely made up 
of copies of official docmnents, some 
of which in the original are not in 
Hebrew but in the language of the 
times, Aramaic. 

NEHEMIAH. 

The book of Nehemiah continues 
the story of the return. Though it 
was written by Nehemiah, the Jews 
reckoned it and Ezra as one book, 
probably because of the close con- 
nection of the history. In the Vul- 
gate the two books are called First 
and Second Esdras. 

ESTHER. 

The last historical writing of the 
Old Testament, the book of Esther, 
is held in especial honor by the Jews 
because it relates the great deliver- 
ance of the nation that is still cele- 
brated in the feast of Purim. It is 



the only book of the Bible that does 
not mention the Deity, but the main 
purpose of the book is to display God's 
providence caring for His chosen 
people. The author of the book is 
unknown, though Ezra and Mordecai 
have been conjectured. The Aha- 
suerus of the book was Xerxes the 
Great, and it is supposed that the 
feast at the opening of the book was 
preliminary to the disastrous expe- 
dition against Greece, while the fact 
that he consoled himself after his de- 
feat with the pleasures of the harem 
is in agreement with the story of 
Esther. 



How to Study the Poetical 

Books of the Old Testament 

The poetical books of the Old Tes- 
tament are five in number, and are 
placed together. They constituted 
the Hebrew books of devotion. Por- 
tions of them are in prose, and Ec- 
clesiastes is mainly in prose; but the 
same phenomenon, reversed, is found 
among the prophecies. 

JOB. 

Job, the first of these books, is a 
long philosophical poem in dramatic 
form, discussing the connection be- 
tween suffering and sin. Job, of 
whom Ezekiel and St. James speak 
as a historical person, was a patriarch 
of the land of Uz, which was prob- 
ably the northeastern part of Arabia. 
There have been many conjectures as 
to the author of the poem and the 
date of writing, but nothing is cer- 
tainly known, though the book, if 
written later than the patriarchal 
age, depicts that age with marvelous 
faithfulness. 

There is a prose introduction and a 
prose epilogue. The poem itself is 
in three parts, each with a threefold 



21 



AN INTRODUCTION TO BIBLE STUDY 



division. Job's three friends speak 
in order, and Job replies. Then Elihu 
enters and makes a more convincing 
argument, heralding the approach of 
Jehovah in a thunderstorm, before 
whom Job himibles himself and is 
accepted by the Lord, being restored to 
his former prosperity. The language 
of the poem is Hebrew, with many 
points of approach to the Arabic. 

The student should read the poem 
several times, becoming famiUar 
with the persons and the argument. 
He should write a brief outhne of the 
poem, noting its regular divisions. 
Read the poem carefully for its so- 
lutions of the problem of suffering, 
noting the several answers suggested, 
and making up your mind as to their 
consistency with the justice and love 
of God. It will be interesting to read 
the poem once in order to make up 
your mind concerning the date of 
writing, getting light on this mat- 
ter by comparisons with the Psalms, 
Proverbs, Isaiah, and Amos. Finally, 
read the great book for an apprecia- 
tion of its Uterary power, observing 
its splendid descriptions, its many 
striking phrases, and its lofty and 
pure philosophy. 

PSALMS. 

In the Hebrew Bible the Psalms are 
appropriately called " the Praises." 
The book consists of reUgious songs 
written at different times for a thou- 
sand years, from Moses to the end of 
the captivity. We often caU the book 
*' the Psalms of David," but the 
Shepherd Kling is expressly named as 
the author of only 73 out of the 150 
Psalms ; one is ascribed to Moses, two 
to Solomon, twelve to Asaph (one of 
David's musicians), eleven to the 
sons of Korah, and one each to He- 
man and Ethan. Many musical 
terms and directions have been pre- 
served in the Psalms, especially in 



their titles. Thirteen of the titles 
name the occasion on which the 
Psahn was written. 

The student should read the Psalms 
in the first place to note the charac- 
teristics of the five books into which 
they are divided. It is thought that 
Psalms 3-41, attributed to David, 
constitute the very earhest collection. 
In these the prevaiHng word for God 
is Jehovah, while in Book 11. the 
prevaiHng word is Elohim. It is - 
interesting also to read together the 
Psahns attributed to different authors, 
and see what characteristics you can 
note in each set. 

In the five books are certain smaller 
collections, such as the " Songs of 
Degrees " or " of Ascents " (120- 
134), used by pilgrims going up to 
Jerusalem, and the two groups of 
Hallelujah Psahns (the Hallels), 113- 
118 and 146-150. These groups 
should be read together. 

Study also together the Messianic 
Psalms, those quoted in the New 
Testament as referring to Christ — 
Psalms 2, 16, 20, 21, 22, 40, 45 69, 
72, no. 

You will find it helpful to give your 
own titles to the Psalms as you read 
them, and to group them together 
according to their themes. For ex- 
ample, note all the Psalms of praise 
and thanksgiving, and sometimes 
read them together. At other times 
read together the Psalms in praise of 
Zion, in praise of the Bible, in praise 
of God's creative wonders. 

The Uterary study of the Psalms 
is fascinating. Hebrew poetry con- 
sists largely of what is called parallel- 
ism — lines corresponding and bal- 
anced, as to sense and form. Some- 
times the second Une is contrasted 
with the first, sometimes it supple- 
ments it, sometimes it expresses a 
similar idea ; and this arrangement is 
carried out not only in couplets but 
23 



HOW TO STUDY THE POETICAL BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 



in triplets, quatrains, and in longer 
and more intricate forms which it is 
most interesting to study out. Some 
of the Psalms, notably Psalm 119, are 
alphabetical acrostics. 

A historical study of the Psalms 
would be valuable, including an at- 
tempt to associate certain ones in 
your mind with certain occasions in 
the lives of their writers when they 
might have been written. Many of 
the Psalms are echoed in modern 
hymns ; many also are closely associ- 
ated with notable scenes in the lives 
of great Christians. As you come 
across these references in your read- 
ing, jot them down in the m.argins of 
your Bible. 

PROVERBS. 

The book of Proverbs is the He- 
brew manual of practical wisdom, as 
the Psalms is the Hebrew manual of 
devotion. As the Psalms are said to 
be David's because he was the lead- 
ing though not the sole authftr of 
them, so the Proverbs are said to be 
Solomon's. The part most certainly 
written by the wise monarch is chap- 
ters 10-22. Chapters 25-29 are also 
ascribed to Solomon, with the infor- 
mation in the heading that Heze- 
kiah's wise men copied them out. 
Chapter 30 is ascribed to Agur and 
31 : 1-9 to King Lemuel, about neither 
of whom is anything known. Chap- 
ter 31 : 10-31 is an alphabetic acrostic 
in praise of the capable woman. 
Chapters 1-9 are a series of connect- 
ed poems on wisdom. Most of the 
proverbs are in couplets, though 
some are in quatrains or longer 
groupings. In the proverbs defi- 
nitely ascribed to Solomon the paral- 
lehsm is that of opposition, antithetic ; 
in others it is often that of likeness or 
addition, synonymous. 

One useful method of studying the 



Proverbs is to read the book by these 
various collections, seeking to make 
out their characteristics. Another is 
to read it for the literary style, noting 
the couplets, triplets, quatrains, etc., 
and the kinds of paralleUsm. Note 
also where we have poetical essays. 
A most fruitful mode of studying is 
by topics, marking in the margin, for 
instance, all the proverbs on industry, 
on temperance, on wisdom, on the 
conduct of children, and so on. Make 
an especial note of the proverbs Ukely 
to be most helpful in modern life. 

ECCLESIASTES. 

The Hebrew title of Ecclesiastes is 
Koheleth, probably meaning "preach- 
er," and so represented in the Greek 
translation by the word " Ecclesi- 
astes." The book is a profound es- 
say on Hfe and its meaning, generally 
in prose, but with poetical elements. 
It was formerly thought that Solomon 
wrote the book in his old age, to ex- 
press his sorrow for his worldly Ufe 
and his repentance. Many scholars 
now hold that the language, style, 
and contents of the book point rather 
to a period after the return from the 
captivity, Solomon being said to be 
the author as embodying the ideal of 
wisdom. 

In studying the book, consider 
which of these theories of authorship 
seems most probable, and whether 
the tone of the book harmonizes more 
with the early days of the monarchy 
or with the return from exile. Some 
scholars think that more than one 
author had a hand in the book. Read 
it once, then, to observe its consis- 
tency and the regularity of its plan. 
The book includes a number of prov- 
erbs, separate or united, which you 
will note. But the main purpose of 
your reading will be to make out the 
chief argument of the book, which is 



23 



AN INTRODUCTION TO BIBLE STUDY 



that all forms of human occupation 
are vanities, and that therefore pros- 
perity is not an inseparable token of 
virtue; this hfe in itself is unworthy 
both of God and man, and it must 
have a redeeming future. Thus 
the book by negatives leads up to 
Christ. 

THE SONG OF SONGS. 

The Song of Songs is the most ob- 
scure book of the Bible. It was read 
on the eighth day of the Passover, 
being interpreted by the Jews as an 
allegory of the exodus. The Latin 
name for the book, Canticum Can- 
ticorum, gives us the title. Canticles. 
" Song of Songs " probably means 
that the song is the chief of songs 
rather than that it is a collection of 
songs, though one of the theories of 
the book is that it is a group of songs 
used, as in a modem Syrian custom, 
to celebrate a wedding. Some com- 
mentators have regarded the book as 
a drama, the names of the speakers 
being omitted, as always in ancient 
manuscripts. Thus considered, there 
are two interpretations, depending 
upon whether Solomon the king is 
supposed to be the shepherd also, or 
whether the shepherd is the true love 
of the Shulamite whom she is tempted 
to forsake by the allurements of Sol- 
omon's love and the attractions of his 
court, but to whom she proves faith- 
ful at last. The theory of the Jews, 
that the book is an allegory of Je- 
hovah's love for His people, has be- 
come among the Christians a theory 
that the book represents Christ's love 
for His church. In studying the 
poem try to make up your mind as to 
which of these conflicting views is the 
correct one. As you read, mark the 
various speakers in the margin, using 
Moulton as a guide, and read chiefly 
to appreciate the beauty of the ex- 
quisite descriptions. 



How to Study the Prophetical 
Books of the Old Testament 

The prophets should be studied in 
chronological order. An order Hkely 
to be accepted by most conservative 
scholars is the following (by Professor 
Davis): during the Assyrian period, 
745-625 B.C., in the north: Hosea, 
Amos, Jonah; in Judah: Joel, Oba- 
diah, Isaiah, Micah, Nahmn; during 
the Babylonian period, 625-587 B.C., 
in Judah: Jeremiah, Habakkuk, 
Zephaniah ; during the exile in Baby- 
lonia: Ezekiel, Daniel; during the 
period of the restoration: Haggai, 
Zechariah, Malachi. 

When studying any prophet, the 
pupil should read in Kings and 
Chronicles the history of the period 
to which he belongs, and read it in 
full. Conversely, if the course of 
Sunday-school lessons hes in Kings or 
Chronicles, the pupils should read and 
study the prophets of the times. In 
adult classes, that are Ukely to be 
quit^ familiar already with the his- 
tory, chief attention may be paid to 
this study of the prophets. 

The student of the prophets should 
read first a chapter or a brief book 
entirely through without having re- 
course to a commentary, seeing what 
he can make out of it unaided; but 
we need help here more than any- 
where else in the Bible, just as our 
American political orations will need 
especial aid from commentaries two 
thousand years hence. 

It is well to make one's own outline 
of a book as the reading proceeds, 
and to incorporate it in one's Bible 
by furnishing one's own chapter 
headings. Also, place dates in the 
margins, and cross references to the 
contemporary passages in Kings and 
Chronicles. 

In studying a prophet seek to dis- 
cover what was his main purpose for 



34 



HOW TO STUDY THE PROPHETICAL BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 



his people. Remember that each 
prophet was a statesman, with an aim 
as immediate as that of Gladstone or 
of Lincoln. Find what it was. 

Compare prophet with prophet as 
to style and message, as Jeremiah 
with Ezekiel and Isaiah, or Haggai 
with Zechariah. 

Observe the relation of each prophet 
to Christ, noting the gradual growth 
of the Messianic hope and expectation. 

Study the New Testament quota- 
tions of each prophet, in some cases 
numerous. Note the New Testament 
circiunstances under which each quo- 
tation is used, and the backward 
bearing on the significance of the 
words in the Old Testament, and the 
meaning of prophecy in the world's 
history. 

With Professor Moulton as your 
guide, study the literary form of the 
prophets. Their writings are often 
poems, and should be printed as such. 
Always they are magnificent Utera- 
ture, worth studying if only for their 
glowing rhetoric, their splendid figures 
of speech, and the masterful power 
of the composition. 

Strive to reaUze the personality of 
the prophet you are studying. Bring 
together all the biographical refer- 
ences, and use your imagination upon 
these and upon his writings to get as 
vivid an idea as possible of the sort of 
man he was. 

Finally, read each prophet in terms 
of to-day. Every one of these heroic 
men has a message for our decade as 
real and vital as for his own. The 
rich and luxurious of to-day need the 
stern words of Amos as much as the 
nobles of Israel. Habakkuk's re- 
buke of the saloon-keeper and the 
oppressor of the poor read as if writ- 
ten yesterday. Few indeed are the 
churches where Malachi's exhorta- 
tion to generous giving would not be 
in point. It is well, in reading the 



prophets, to mark in some especial 
way in the margin these passages 
that are particularly applicable to 
our own times. 

And now I will give brief introduc- 
tions to the prophetical books, taking 
not the chronological order but the 
order in which they are printed in our 
Bibles. 

ISAIAH. 

Isaiah prophesied in Judah during 
the four reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, 
Ahaz, and Hezekiah, times of spiritual 
decline within the nation and terrible 
peril from without. In spite of the 
darkness of the times, Isaiah was full 
of hope, and he is called " the evan- 
gelical prophet " because he foretold 
so nobly the better days that were 
to come. By common consent, his 
book is the supreme prophecy of the 
Bible and so of all time. Its chapters 
are thus grouped: i-6, Israel's sins; 
7-12, " the book of Immanuel "; 13- 
23, prophecies against the nations; 
24-35, the coming overthrow of evil; 
36-39, Hezekiah's triumph; 40-48, 
God and idols; 49-58, the coming 
Messiah; 59-66, a new heaven and a 
new earth. Those scholars that be- 
Ueve in a second Isaiah assign to him 
the last twenty-seven chapters of the 
book. It will be of interest, in study- 
ing these two portions of Isaiah, to 
note any points of unlikeness, and 
also the many strong points of literary 
similarity. 

JEREMIAH. 

Jeremiah, often called " the weep- 
ing prophet," is rather the prophet of 
stern warnings. He taught in Judah 
during the forty years before the cap- 
ture of Jerusalem, and his book is a 
vivid picture of those troublous times. 
He is said to have been carried by the 
Jews to their exile in Eg5rpt, and there 
to have been stoned to death because 
of his opposition to idolatry. The 
outline of his book is as follows: 



35 



AN INTRODUCTION TO BIBLE STUDY 



chapter i, introduction; chapters 2- 
20 may be the prophecies written by 
Baruch after Jehoiakim had burned 
the first roll; 21-24, brief notes of 
warning; 25-28, prophecies of the 
fall of Jerusalem; 29-31, relating to 
the exile in Babylonia; 32-45, con- 
cerning the history of the two years 
before the fall of Jerusalem; 46-51, 
prophecies against foreign nations, 
especially Babylon; 52, the conclu- 
sion, relating the fall of Jerusalem, 
which some think was added by Ezra. 

LAMENTATIONS. 

The book of Lamentations is a 
poem, placed among the prophecies 
because it has always been ascribed 
to Jeremiah. At any rate, the author 
must have been as familiar as was 
Jeremiah with the terrible details of 
the siege of Jerusalem which the 
poem describes. The poems are in 
the Hebrew elegiac or dirge metre, 
each stanza consisting of two or 
more parallel Unes, and each line 
of two parts, the first of which is 
the longer— a pecuUarly melancholy 
rhythm. Chapters i, 2, and 4 are 
each made up of 22 stanzas begin- 
ning with the 22 letters of the He- 
brew alphabet. Chapter 5 also has 
22 stanzas, but without the acrostical 
arrangement. Chapter 3 has 66 
stanzas of one Hue each, but the 
stanzas are arranged in groups of 
threes, each line of a group begin- 
ning with the same Hebrew letter, 
the whole in alphabetical order. 

EZEKIEL. 

Ezekiel was a priest like Jeremiah, 
and grew up under Jeremiah's teach- 
ings. Nebuchadnezzar, after his sec- 
ond attack upon Judah, carried Eze- 
kiel away captive to a place about two 
hundred miles north of Babylon, 
where he was a faithful teacher and 
leader of the exiles for twenty-two 



years. His writings are closely akin 
to those of Jeremiah in the home 
land, and some think that the two 
prophets exchanged manuscripts. 

Ezekiel is the most Uterary of the 
prophets, as befits one whose work 
must have been done so largely 
through the medium of writing. His 
book is full of magnificent visions, 
stirring and graphic parables, and 
bits of eloquent poetry. During the 
first half of his work, chapters 1-24, 
the prophet was foretelUng to an in- 
credulous audience the coming de- 
struction of Jerusalem. After that 
stupendous event there was a period 
of two years' silence, picturesquely 
represented in the book by chapters 
25-32, judgments upon seven heathen 
nations. The last half of Ezekiel's 
ministry was consolatory, represented 
by chapters 33-48, prophecies of the 
restoration of the Jews from exile. 

DANIEL. 

Ezekiel's prophecies had a strong 
influence upon the Revelation of St. 
John, but an influence still stronger 
was exerted by the book of Daniel. 
This book, though so powerfully pro- 
phetic, is ranked in the Hebrew Bible' 
with the historical works, Ezra, Nehe- 
miah, and the Chronicles, showing 
that Daniel was regarded as a states- 
man rather than a prophet. Ezekiel's 
mention of Daniel and many other 
considerations would show that he 
was a real person, an exile of the first 
captivity, in spite of the theory of 
those that make him to be a Hterary 
fiction and his book a " prophecy af- 
ter the event," written in the times 
of Antiochus Epiphanes. To be sure, 
historical events are deUneated with 
greater detail before those times than 
after, but the book does unfold with 
accuracy the course of history from 
the time of Daniel to the time of 
Christ, giving a wonderful pictiure of 



26 



HOW TO STUDY THE PROPHETICAL BOOKS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT 



Messiah's reign. Roughly speaking, 
in the first half of the book, the por- 
tion dealing with Daniel's life, the 
modest third person is used, and the 
Aramaic language is employed, as in 
Ezra where the theme of the history is 
intimately related to foreign lands. 
The second half, the prophecies, are 
written in the first person and in 
Hebrew. 

HOSEA. 
Hosea is the first in order of the 
twelve " minor prophets," thus dis- 
tinguished from the four " major 
prophets," not necessarily because of 
lesser influence, but because their 
writings are so much briefer. The 
Jews reckoned the twelve as but one 
book. Hosea prophesied in the north- 
ern kingdom during about three dec- 
ades before its fall, a time of great 
sins against which the* prophet 
preached fearlessly, and of great na- 
tional disasters. The keynote of 
Hosea is the infidelity of his wife as 
typifying the nation's unfaithfulness 
to Jehovah, and the prophet's recep- 
tion of his wife back again, typifying 
the forgiveness with which God would 
receive His people if they repented. 
It is probable that Hosea's ministry 
followed closely that of Amos. 

JOEL. 

The position of Joel's prophecy 
next in order would indicate the belief 
of those that formed the canon that 
Joel prophesied in very early times, 
though some scholars place him after 
the exile. Nothing definite is known 
of Joel, but it is gathered from the 
book that he was a Jew, probably of 
Jerusalem, and possibly a priest. 
The book pictures a great plague of 
locusts, probably as a symbol of the 
coming invasion of the Assyrians, 
and the last half of the book comforts 
the people with the promise of final 
joy and triumph. 



AMOS. 

One of the most inspiring persons 
of the Bible is Amos, the humble 
farmer of Judah, who dared to enter 
the northern kingdom and denounce 
its sins in Bethel, the centre of calf- 
worship, and in Samaria. He faced 
with boldness the chief priest, Ama- 
ziah, and probably made a safe escape 
to write his prophecies. As is suited 
to its origin, the book is full of images 
taken from outdoor hfe. It begins 
with a series of seven " dooms," 
winding inward among the nations to 
Judah, and then, in the eighth 
" doom," the prophet strikes the 
northern kingdom itself. There fol- 
lows a series of vivid visions, and at 
the close is a burst of sunshine, God's 
forgiveness of the repentant people. 
Amos was perhaps the very earliest 
of the prophets, and he prophesied 
when the northern kingdom was at 
the height of its power under Jero- 
boam 11. 

OBADIAH. 

The Edomites were the hereditary 
enemies of Judah. They gave them 
no help against their foes, and re- 
joiced in the fall of Jerusalem and the 
disasters which preceded that event. 
Obadiah, about whom nothing defi- 
nite is known, foretold the ruin of 
Edom and that the Jews would come 
to possess that kingdom, as actually 
happened. Some think that Oba- 
diah's book relates to the calamities 
that befell Jerusalem under Ahaz, 
and some refer the prophecy to the 
fall of Jerusalem, and some to much 
later times. Jeremiah's prophecy con- 
cerning Edom follows the lines of 
Obadiah's. 

JONAH. 

The book of Jonah is a remarkable 
foregleam of the broad spirit animat- 
ing Paul, and preaches, in opposition 



37 



AN INTRODUCTION TO BIBLE STUDY 



to Jewish exclusiveness, tlie possibil- 
ity of God's grace to the Gentiles. 
Jonah was a prophet of the northern 
kingdom who (2 Kings 14:25) en- 
couraged Jeroboam II. to enlarge his 
realm. His book is quoted by his 
contemporary, Hosea, and by Jere- 
miah and some of the late Psalms, 
though certain scholars consider 
that the book was written after the 
exile and that the author quoted 
the Psalms, Hosea, and Jeremiah. 
Christ, in important passages, speaks 
of Jonah and the miracle of the great 
fish in such a way as to imply His 
beUef in the historical accuracy of 
the book. 

MICAH. 
Micah was a prophet of Judah 
during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, 
and Hezekiah, being a younger con- 
temporary of Hosea and Isaiah. Jere- 
miah quotes a prophecy of Micah's 
as leading to Hezekiah's repentance, 
and Matthew quotes his prophecy 
that the great deUverer of the He- 
brews should be born in Bethlehem. 
Like the other prophets of the times, 
Micah boldly denounced the sins of 
the nation, idolatry and the oppression 
of the poor. The book is separated 
into three divisions, each introduced 
by the words, " Hear ye." 

NAHUM. 
Nahum prophesied to Judah, and 
the Elkosh where he was born may 
have been in the southern kingdom, 
though some think it was in Galilee 
(Capernaum means " village of Na- 
hum "). He prophesied between the 
fall of No-Amon, the Egyptian Thebes, 
about 663 B.C., and the fall of Nine- 
veh in 606 B.C., which he foretells. 
He makes no reference to the sins of 
his people, and probably wrote during 
a period of reformation; his brief 
prophecy is devoted to predicting the 
downfall of the Assyrian foe. 



HABAKKUK. 

All that we know of Habakkuk is 
conjectured from his book. It is be- 
Ueved that he was a Levite, a con- 
temporary probably of Jeremiah, and 
that he prophesied during the years 
just preceding the fall of Jerusalem. 
The keynote of the book is the great 
saying quoted by Paul, " The just 
shall live by faith." Habakkuk gives 
a terrible picture of the wickedness 
of the Chaldeans, and foretells their 
doom and the final triumph of God's 
just and faithful people. 

ZEPHANIAH. 

Zephaniah, as we are told in the 
first verse of his prophecy, was the 
great-great-grandson of King Heze- 
kiah, and prophesied in the days of 
King Josiah, being therefore a con- 
temporary of Jeremiah. The king 
mentioned in the prophecy is prob- 
ably Hezekiah, and the date of the 
prophecy is probably before Josiah's 
reforms. The book is a protest 
against the idolatry and other iniqui- 
ties of Judah, an announcement of 
the doom of other nations, and a clos- 
ing promise of restoration for his own 
people to Jehovah's favor and to 
prosperity. 

HAGGAI. 

After Cyrus had permitted the first 
return under Zerubbabel and the 
foundations of the restored Temple 
had been laid, the Samaritans, by their 
slanders, induced Cyrus to put a stop 
to these operations. Fifteen years 
passed before the accession of Darius 
I. gave the Jews new hope. Haggai 
then arose, and in the four pubhc 
addresses recorded in his book urged 
the Jews to complete their task and 
rebuild the Temple. He is thought 
to have been older than his contem- 
porary, Zechariah, and to have seen 
the first Temple. 



38 



HOW TO STUDY THE GOSPELS 



ZECHARIAH. 

Several circumstances show that 
Zechariah, though he prophesied at 
the same time as Haggai, was a 
younger man. He also devoted him- 
self to urging the people to rebuild 
the Temple. The keynote of the 
book is given at the start in Jehovah's 
words, " Return unto me, and I will 
return unto you." The opening 
chapters are occupied with a series of 
eight visions; then follows a discus- 
sion of the nature of a true fast, and 
the closing portion is a series of pre- 
dictions of the fall of the enemies of 
his people and the triumph of the 
Jews. The many references to the 
Messiah cause the book to be much 
quoted in the New Testament. Many 
recent critics, though admitting the 
first eight chapters to be Zechariah's, 
date the remainder either far before 
or long after the time of Darius I. 

MALACHI. 
As " Malachi" means "my messen- 
ger " some have held that the name 
is merely the designation of an anony- 
mous prophet, getting into the title 
of the book from the first verse of the 
third chapter; this, however, is not 
likely. It is thought that Malachi 
was a priest, and he certainly proph- 
esied after Haggai and Zechariah. 
The Temple was built, but both 
priests and people were neglecting the 
Temple services, while marriages 
with heathen women were Hkely to 
make of Israel a heathen nation. 
These abuses Malachi rebuked, and 
thus prepared the way for the reforms 
of iTzra and Nehemiah. The proph- 
ecy closes with a magnificent picture 
of the coming Messiah and of His 
herald, the second Elijah, John the 
Baptist. Thus the closing words of 
the Old Testament make the most fit- 
ting of transitions to the New Testa- 
ment. 



How to Study the Gospels 

In studying the Gospels and in 
reading them, bear in mind contin- 
ually the meaning of " Gospel," 
" good news," and seek to discover 
the particular good news of each book 
and each chapter. What evangel 
did it bring to the ancient world? 
What does it bring to our modern 
world? In addition, study each Gos- 
pel with an eye to the characteristics 
of its writer, as noted below. 

Compare the Gospels by means of a 
harmony (that by Burton and Stevens 
is the best), and designate by under- 
scoring or by vertical marks in the 
margin what is pecuHar to each Gos- 
pel. Seek thus to discover the char- 
acteristics and special purpose of each 
book. 

It will be interesting and useful to 
assign a nimiber to each event of 
Christ's Hfe and each fully reported 
address or parable, taking them in 
order as given in tabular form in most 
teachers' Bibles; then mark these 
portions in the various Gospels by 
surrounding each with a blue Une, 
placing the serial ntmiber in the upper 
right-hand corner. 

Obtain or make an outline map of 
Palestine — one without lettering, — 
mount it on wood, and stick pins at 
the various places visited by Christ. 
Extend threads of different colors 
from pin to pin to indicate Christ's 
various journeys. 

Using the chronological table of 
Christ's life found in every Bible dic- 
tionary, write opposite each of your 
numbered sections the year in which 
the event occurred. Make a chain of 
references to each character, writing 
opposite each mention of Him the 
page on which the next mention is to 
be found. Opposite each section 
write in blue the page on which the 
same section number is to be found 



29 



AN INTRODUCTION TO BIBLE STUDY 



in the next Gospel, if the event is re- 
corded elsewhere. 

It will be interesting to classify the 
miracles, as those over nature, those 
of heahng, of resurrection, and indi- 
cate this classification in the margin. 
Do the same for the parables — those 
of salvation, of growth, of warning, 
etc. Some will hke to underscore 
all the words of Christ in a certain 
color, for ready reference. It is es- 
pecially helpful to trace the most im- 
portant teachings through the Gos- 
pels by a chain of marginal references, 
noting the relation of each saying to 
Christ's Ufe and experiences, and not- 
ing also the proportion of the teach- 
ing in each Gospel, comparing this 
with the purpose and general plan of 
each book. 

MATTHEW. 

The writers of the Gospels are called 
the four evangeUsts. The first three 
are called the " synoptical Gospels," 
because they present a more or less 
connected view of Christ's Ufe. Of 
Matthew, the writer of the first Gos- 
pel, we know only that he was a He- 
brew tax-collector, that he left his 
obnoxious business gladly at the sum- 
mons of Christ, and that he made a 
feast for the Master. Many scholars 
think that he wrote his Gospel first in 
Aramaic, but we have only the Greek 
translation. The date of composition 
is not long after the middle of the 
first century. Matthew's is pre-emi- 
nently the Gospel for the Jews, writ- 
ten to prove to them that Jesus was 
the Messiah, fulfilUng all the proph- 
ecies. Note as you read the large 
number of quotations from the Old 
Testament — as many as sixty-five. 
Note also Matthew's plan of grouping 
the sayings of our Lord and the events 
of His life according to topics rather 
than in the chronological order. 



MARK. 

The second Gospel was written by 
John Mark, the son of Mary of Jeru- 
salem and the cousin of Barnabas. 
He set out with Paul on his first mis- 
sionary journey, but returned for 
some reason unsatisfactory to the 
apostle, who, however, afterwards be- 
came his firm friend. Peter (i Pet. 
5:13) refers to Mark as his "son," 
and to his being with him in " Baby- 
lon," that is, Rome. It is thought 
that Mark wrote his Gospel at Rome 
and for the Romans, under the guid- 
ance and with the help of Peter. 
Bear this theory in mind as you read, 
and note the explanations of Jewish 
terms, the omission of references to 
Jewish law and of Christ's genealogy, 
and the use of several Latin words. 
Mark's is thought to have been the 
earUest Gospel written, and to have 
been before Matthew and Luke when 
they wrote, thus accounting for the 
many passages that are nearly the 
same in all three. It was written be- 
fore the destruction of Jerusalem in 
70 A.D. The rapid movement and 
graphic touches of the narrative (the 
word " immediately " is used forty- 
one times) point to Peter's aid in the 
writing. 

LUKE. 

The third Gospel was written by 
Luke the physician, the companion 
of Paul, who is thought to have been 
a manumitted slave from the Syrian 
Antioch. He wrote between 58 A.D. 
and 65 A.D., and perhaps the Gos- 
pel was composed during the two 
years (58-60 A.D.) when Luke 'was 
in Palestine while Paul was in' prison 
at Caesarea. Luke's is the PauUne 
Gospel as Mark's is the Petrine. Note 
in reading it its completeness, its em- 
phasis on the universality of Chris- 
tianity, its accuracy in medical de- 
scriptions, its systematic method, its 



30 



HOW TO STUDY THE ACTS 



preservation of hymns, and the prom- 
inence it gives to women. 

JOHN. 

As Luke's is the historical Gospel, 
John's is the great spiritual and doc- 
trinal Gospel. It was certainly writ- 
ten by the Beloved Disciple, and prob- 
ably between 80 A.D. and 90 A.D., at 
Ephesus. The book should be read 
bearing in mind throughout its ex- 
pressed purpose (John 20:30, 31), to 
prove that Jesus was the Son of God 
and the Saviour of the world. It 
takes for granted a knowledge of 
what is in the other Gospels, duplicat- 
ing them seldom and in those cases 
adding much that is of deep interest, 
and relating many things which they 
omitted. It was the last of the Gos- 
pels, and could safely insert many 
facts, such as those concerning Laza- 
rus and the cutting off of Malchus's 
ear, which the other evangelists were 
obliged to suppress. In harmony 
with this, note the absence of the ac- 
counts of Christ's birth, baptism, 
temptation, transfiguration, and as- 
cension. John records no parables 
and few miracles, but many dis- 
courses, giving them at great length, 
and especially the priceless final dis- 
course of the Saviour. John's is the 
Gospel also that tells us nearly all we 
know about Christ's ministry outside 
of Galilee. 

How to Study the Acts 

The Acts of the Apostles (more ex- 
actly, " of Apostles," since those of 
Peter and Paul alone are detailed) 
was written by Luke, the beloved 
physician. It will be of interest for 
the student to note throughout the 
indications that it was written by a 
Gentile and physician. It was dedi- 
cated to the same man — Theophilus 
— for whom Luke wrote his Gospel. 



The writer had ample opportunity 
to gather his information from eye- 
witnesses, and the passages where he 
drops the third person and uses " we " 
indicate that he was a companion of 
Paul in many of his most important 
experiences. 

The book was probably written at 
Rome, and about 62 A.D., since it 
closes abruptly with Paul's first im- 
prisonment in 61 A.D., and since 
later events are not alluded to. Acts 
has been called " the Gospel of the 
Spirit " ; discover why. Its main 
purpose is to show how, at first 
through Philip and Peter but chiefly 
through Paul, Christianity, whose 
Hebrew beginnings Luke had traced 
in his Gospel, was extended to the 
Gentile world. The programme of 
the Acts is laid down in the preface, 
chapter i : 8, and in reading the book 
the student should mark the begin- 
ning of each of the four divisions — 
Jerusalem, Judaea, Samaria, the ut- 
termost part of the earth. 

It will be especially helpful, in 
studying this book, to assign one- 
word or two-word titles to the chap- 
ters, such as " Pentecost," " Cripple," 
" Philip," printing them at the head 
of each chapter and committing them 
to memory. Also, I advise you to get 
or make an outline map of the regions 
covered by Paul's journeys — a map 
with no lettering — ^mount it on wood, 
and stick pins in the places he visited 
as you come to each in the reading, 
often reviewing them, and extending 
threads of different colors from pin 
to pin to mark the different journeys. 
Use for a marker, as you read, a strip 
of paper divided horizontally to repre- 
sent the years from Christ's death, 
30 A.D., to Paul's imprisonment, 
61 A.D., and as you proceed note each 
event of the Acts at its proper year. 
Insert also each Epistle at the time 
when it was written, using ink or 



AN INTRODUCTION TO BIBLE STUDY 



pencil of a different color. Since 
Acts is a book of beginnings, it will 
be interesting to note in the margins 
the various " firsts " — the first evan- 
gelistic service, the first deacons, the 
first missionaries, the first church 
council, etc. It will be useful also if 
opposite each mention of a character 
you write the nmnber of the page 
that contains the next mention of him, 
if he enters the history again. 



How to Study the Epistles 

The Epistles should be read and 
studied in the chronological order, 
and for this purpose the following 
table of the probable dates of writing 
will be useful: 

James, 45 A.D. 

1 Thessalonians, 52 A.D. 

2 Thessalonians, 52 A.D. 
Galatians, 55 A.D. 

1 Corinthians, 56 A.D. 

2 Corinthians, 57 A.D. 
Romans, 58 A.D. 
Colossians, 61 A.D. 
Philemon, 61 A.D. 
Ephesians, 61 A.D. 
Philippians, 62 A.D. 

I Peter, 64 A.D. 

1 Timothy, 64 A.D. 
Titus, 65 A.D. 
Jude, 66 A.D. 
Hebrews, 66 A.D. 

2 Timothy, 67 A.D. 
2 Peter, 68 A.D. 

1 John, 95 A.D. 

2 John, 95 A.D. 

3 John, 95 A.D. 

Each Epistle should be read at a 
sitting, and over and over. Make a 
study of each, and try to master it 
before going on to the next. 

It is well to seek out the main point 
of each Epistle and all that is related 
to it, but pass by the minor points, 
leaving them for a later study. 



j The best time for the study of the 
Epistles is when the Sunday-school 
lessons are in Acts. Whenever an 
Epistle is studied its place should be 
found in the history as recorded in 
Acts, and the student should read 
there the account of the circumstances 
under which the letter was probably 
written, and should also turn back 
and review Paul's former relations 
with the receiving church (if you are 
dealing with one of Paul's Epistles). 
While studying the Epistle be keen 
to perceive whatever there is in it that 
bears on these personal relations. 

It is a good plan to write on the 
margin of each Epistle in your Bible 
where it was written and when, and 
all other circimistances connected 
with it that you can' discover. 

Make your own sjmopsis of the 
Epistle you are studying, compare it 
with that in the commentary, and 
write the main divisions and sub- 
heads on the margins of your Bible. 

Give your own descriptive title to 
each Epistle, as, for Ephesians, " The 
Epistle of Christian Union," or for 
James (Dr. Deems's title), " The Gos- 
pel of Common Sense." It is well 
also to give titles to the various 
chapters. 

As in your studies you add Epistle 
to Epistle, begin to make a study of 
the doctrines in all of them, tracing, 
for instance, through Paul's letters 
his references to the doctrine of a 
future life, making a chain of mar- 
ginal references, and comparing the 
earlier with the later writings on this 
point, and the general with the per- 
sonal Epistles, thus gaining a con- 
ception of the unity of the teaching. 
When you have time, you will wish 
to carry the comparison further, ex- 
tending your cross references to the 
I Gospels. In a number of Epistles 
1 also, especially in Hebrews, you will 
find many references to the Old Tes- 



HOW TO STUDY THE EPISTLES 



tament, which you will wish to bring 
out by cross references. 

It will be best to study all the Epis- 
tles of Paul together, then all the 
Epistles of Peter and of John. After 
you have reviewed all the Epistles, 
by five or six different writers, make 
a study of some prominent doctrines 
in them all, noting their substantial 
agreement. 

It will be most convenient to give 
our little introductions to the Epistles 
not in their chronological order, but 
in the order in which they are printed 
in the New Testament. 

ROMANS. 

The letter to the Romans was writ- 
ten from Corinth at the close of 
Paul's third missionary journey, and 
was intended to prepare the Christians 
in Rome for a visit that Paul proposed 
to pay them. That they may be well 
grounded in the gospel, Paul sets 
forth in a masterly manner the way 
of life, that it lies through faith in 
Christ; thus this is one of the most 
important of all the books of the 
Bible. Paul also discusses some of 
the questions that were sure to per- 
plex the Christians in Rome, such as 
,. God's design for the future of the 
Jews, and the relation of Christians 
to idolaters and their customs. The 
letter closes with many strong teach- 
ings for daily Ufe. 

FIRST CORINTHIANS. 
First Corinthians was written at 
Ephesus during Paul's third journey, 
in reply to the questions raised by a 
committee from the church at Cor- 
inth. That church was torn by dis- 
sensions, different parties favoring 
different leaders; also, in that disso- 
lute city, some excesses were prac- 
tised even by the Christians. The 
purpose of the Epistle is therefore to 
counsel unity and purity. The close 



of the letter, especially the chapters 
on charity and the resurrection, rise 
to a subUme height. 

SECOND CORINTHIANS. 

The first letter to the Corinthians 
brought about a reform in that 
church, but the Jewish party took 
occasion to attack Paul bitterly. Ti- 
tus brought the news to Paul, finding 
him probably at PhiUppi, whither he 
had been driven by the riot at Ephe- 
sus. At once Paul penned the second 
letter to the Corinthians, making a 
sturdy defence, and painting a splen- 
did picture of his missionary Ufe. 

GALATIANS. 
Galatia was settled by Gauls from 
Italy and Greece, but among them 
were Greeks, Romans, and Jews. 
Paul had established a church there 
on his second journey. The Jews 
made trouble in this church by insist- 
ing on circumcision and the exact 
observance of the Mosaic law, exalt- 
ing Peter above Paul ; thereupon Paul 
wrote his Epistle to the Galatians to 
show them that Christ had superseded 
the reign of law by the reign of grace, 
outUning the great doctrine of justi- 
fication by faith rather than by works. 

EPHESIANS. 
During his first imprisonment in 
Rome Paul wrote a glorious letter to 
the church in Ephesus, which he had 
built up by three years' work. Ephe- 
sians, however, contains no personal 
greetings, and was probably intended 
not merely for that one church, but to 
be sent as a circular letter to all the 
churches of the region. It empha- 
sizes the unity which should charac- 
terize Christians, and sets forth in 
sentences of the most exalted elo- 
quence the purpose of God in the 
history of the world. Ephesians and 
Romans are Paul's greatest writings. 



33 



AN INTRODUCTION TO BIBLE STUDY 



PHILIPPIANS. 

During Paul's first imprisonment in 
Rome a gift was sent him by the 
Christians at PhiUppi, the first church 
established by Paul in Europe. The 
Epistle to the PhiUppians, v/ritten 
from Rome, is an acknowledgment 
of the gift, and a warm, wise, pastoral 
letter. 

COLOSSIANS. 

The letter to the Colossians was 
written from Rome at the same time 
as that to the Ephesians, and was 
sent by the same messenger, Tychicus. 
The church at Colossae was not found- 
ed by Paul, but perhaps by Epaphras. 
The latter brought to Paul the news 
of certain false teachers who threat- 
ened the church, opposing the pure 
reUgion of Christ with rituaUsm, as- 
ceticism, and obscure speculations. 
Paul wrote Colossians to combat 
these false teachings. 

FIRST THESSALONIANS. 

After Paul and Silas, in the second 
missionary journey, had founded the 
church in Thessalonica, Paul went on 
to Corinth. There Silas and Tim- 
othy came to him, bringing news of 
the progress of the Thessalonians, but 
also telling him that, through looking 
for the immediate coming of Christ in 
the heavens, many of them had given 
up work and fallen into disorder. 
Paul wrote his first Epistle to the 
Thessalonians, the earhest of his let- 
ters, to correct this error, and other 
errors that had crept into the church. 

SECOND THESSALONIANS. 

Soon after writing the first letter to 
the Thessalonians Paul learned that 
the Christians of that church were 
still disturbed over the expected sec- 
ond coming of Christ, and he wrote 
them a second letter dealing with the 
same subject as.ihe first, but treating 



the second advent more with relation 
to the wicked than to believers. 

FIRST TIMOTHY. 

Paul's convert, Timothy, was the 
apostle's companion during his first 
imprisonment, and after his release 
Paul put the young man in charge of 
the important church at Ephesus 
while he himself went on to visit 
Macedonia. It was probably from 
Macedonia that Paul wrote to Tim- 
othy his first Epistle, giving him in- 
struction, in the first place, concern- 
ing his church, into which heresies 
had crept, and in the second place 
giving him some personal advice. 

SECOND TIMOTHY. 

The second letter to Timothy, writ- 
ten during Paul's second imprison- 
ment in Rome, is the. last of Paul's 
writings. It tells us something about 
the apostle's Hfe and the condition of 
the church between the first and sec- 
ond imprisonments, and makes some 
mention of Paul's first trial and his 
loneliness, in which he turned to his 
beloved friend, urging him to hasten 
to Rome, though conscious that he 
might never see him again. The let- 
ter is full of earnest parting messages . 
to the young pastor. 

TITUS. 

Titus was probably won by Paul 
on his first missionary journey. He 
was a Greek, and Paul had sent him 
on several embassies to Corinth, and 
had taken him to the famous council 
at Jerusalem, where he was not com- 
pelled to be circumcised. After Paul's 
first imprisonment he had placed 
Titus in charge of the church in the 
island of Crete, a difficult post be- 
cause of the lying, immoraUty, and 
fickleness of the people. Therefore, 
at about the time of the first letter to 
Timothy, Paul wrote a similar letter 



34 



HOW TO STUDY THE EPISTLES 



of advice to Titus. These letters to 
Timothy and Titus are called the 
pastoral Epistles. 

PHILEMON. ' 

When Tychicus, during Paul's 
first imprisomnent, carried the Epistle 
to the Colossians, he carried also a 
brief personal letter to Philemon, a 
Christian of Colossae, whose runaway 
slave, Onesimus, went back to his 
master with Tychicus. Onesimus 
had been converted by Paul in Rome, 
and this beautiful Epistle intercedes 
for the slave, introducing him to 
Philemon as no longer merely a ser- 
vant but a brother in Christ. 

HEBREWS. 

The important letter to the He- 
brews is anonymous. Its doctrine is 
PauHne, but not its style. Still, there 
are a number of excellent reasons 
leading many to think that Paul 
wrote it. If not Paul, Barnabas is 
a possible author, or Apollos, or Luke. 
The letter was written before the fall 
of Jerusalem, and was written to the 
Hebrew Christians of Palestine, to 
comfort them in their persecutions. 
Its purpose is to show them how 
much better is Christ than all that 
they had lost in Judaism — superior 
to the angels, to Moses, and to the 
ancient priesthood, summing up the 
old covenant and supplanting it with 
a better. The Epistle closes with a 
glorious picture of faith and of other 
heroic virtues. 

JAMES. 

The remaining Epistles are called 
the " general " Epistles because they 
were not addressed to any particular 
church, as were Paul's letters — 
though that to the Ephesians was 
really a circular letter. The first, 
that of James, was written for all the 
Christian Jews that had been driven 
from Jerusalem and scattered over 



the world. Its author was the earthly 
brother of Christ, a strict Jew though 
an earnest Christian, and the hon- 
ored head of the church in Jerusalem. 
His Epistle, which has been called 
"the Gospel of Common Sense," is full 
of practical exhortations for wise liv- 
ing, and has many points of likeness 
to the Sermon on the Mount. 
FIRST PETER. 
After Peter's work in Palestine of 
which we are told in the Acts the 
apostle labored in Asia Minor, and 
his first Epistle was written to the 
Jewish Christians of that region. 
They had been converted by Paul, 
and Peter writes in full agreement 
with Paul, citing passages from the 
Epistle to the Ephesians. The letter 
shows that its recipients were then 
suffering persecution — probably that 
of Nero — and in great need of the 
consolation and encouragement which 
Peter gave them. 

SECOND PETER. 

Peter's second Epistle was written 
to the same churches as the first one, 
and perhaps from Rome, as there is 
a reference to the apostle's approach- 
ing martyrdom. There is a reference 
to Paul and a citation of Jude's Epis- 
tle. The purpose of the letter is to 
urge faith in the gospel of Christ in 
the face of all heresies and the pres- 
ence of all temptations. 

FIRST JOHN. 
John wrote his first Epistle for the 
churches in Asia Minor over which 
he was the beloved bishop, and at the 
close of his long life. It was written 
soon after the fourth Gospel, and as 
an appendix to it, setting forth its 
truths more fully and applying them 
to the daily Ufe of the Christian. 

SECOND JOHN. 
John's second Epistle is much like 
the first, but shorter. In it John calls 



35 



AN INTRODUCTION TO BIBLE STUDY 



himself " the elder," and addresses it 
to " the elect lady and her children," 
by which some think he meant a 
church, and some think he meant an 
actual person. It was probably writ- 
ten at Ephesus and at about the time 
of the first Epistle and the Gospel. 

THIRD JOHN. 

John's third Epistle is much Uke 
the other two, and may have been 
written at the same time. It is ad- 
dressed by " the elder " to " Gains the 
beloved," some otherwise unknown 
Christian, praising his hospitahty and 
urging him to continue in good works. 

JUDE. 
The Epistle of Jude was addressed 
probably to Jewish Christians, and 
its purpose is to warn them against 
false teachings and encourage them 
to hold fast to the Christian faith. 
The writer, Jude (or Judas), was a 
brother of James, the writer of the 
Epistle of James, and was therefore 
another of our Lord's brothers ac- 
cording to the flesh. He wrote this 
letter before Peter wrote his second 
Epistle, which makes use of it largely. 



How to Study the Revelation 

Some scholars think that the Rev- 
elation was written before the fall of 
Jerusalem ; but a strong tradition tells 
us that John was sent to the island 
of Patmos by Domitian, and was re- 
leased after the death of that tyrant. 
He probably wrote the Revelation on 
the island or soon after returning to 
Ephesus, near the close of the first 
century and in his old age. There 
are a vast number of agreements be- 
tween John's Gospel and the Revela- 
tion, and the differences in the Greek 
styles are accounted for by the differ- 
ence in theme. 

The Revelation is the only pro- 



phetic book in the New Testament. 
It is a series of seven visions, which 
should be clearly marked by the stu- 
dent in his Bible. The first, a vision 
of the glorified Christ, is followed by 
brief epistles to the seven churches 
of Asia Minor. The visions are com- 
pUcated by the fact that some are in 
heaven and some are parallel to them 
and on earth. Scholars are not cer- 
tain of the interpretation at all points, 
but the general purpose is clear, the 
encouragement of Christians by show- 
ing the ultimate trixmiph of Christ 
and His church. For this reason the 
book has always been very dear to 
behevers. 

In studying the Revelation the first 
step is to get its pictures distinctly in 
mind. Read it straight through, and 
more than once, merely for the inci- 
dents. Memorize the succession of 
them, and note the relation of the 
parts to one another. It is well to 
make a running simrmary on paper, 
putting parallel the happenings on 
earth and in heaven. 

Underscore the first mention of 
each symbol. Note those the mean- 
ing of which is not clear, and after 
meditation upon them turn, if neces- 
sary, to a conmientary for an ex- 
planation. 

The Revelation is full of references 
to the visions and prophecies of 
Daniel and Ezekiel, and those books 
should be read in close connection. 
Mark the points of similarity in the 
margins of each book, as you discover 
them. 

It is a study full of interest to read 
in connection with the Revelation 
John's Gospel and Epistles, noting 
the frequent use of the same unique 
expressions, and also the similarity in 
thought. It will be well to bring out 
these resemblances and record your 
studies by cross references written in 
the margins of your Bible. 



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